20,000 e-tailers on Shopee; CAIT seeks ban on e-commerce firm

In 2015, Shopee was launched in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
For representational purposes (File Photo | AFP)
For representational purposes (File Photo | AFP)

BENGALURU: While traders lobby Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to ban e-commerce company Shopee, Singapore Transport Minister S Iswaran said at a CII Partnership Summit recently that Singapore’s e-commerce company Shopee has commenced its operation in India a few months ago and that it has employed close to 300 staff and onboarded over 20,000 local sellers in India.

He said that this further strengthens the economic and people-to-people links between two countries.
 CAIT has said that Shopee is operating in India against FEMA Rules and FDI Press Note of 2020 and that the Chinese e-commerce company has violated rules.

Many products are sold on Shopee at low prices of Rs 1, Rs 9, Rs 49 etc.

This is a deliberate pricing strategy adopted by the e-commerce giant with the intention of reducing prices of products to nonsensical and loss-making levels in the short-term; so as to undercut and extinguish small sellers and retailers in the long term, said the traders body.

In 2015, Shopee was launched in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In 2018, its Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) stood at $10 billion with over 600 million transactions on the platform.

Many products sold at low prices, says CAIT

Chinese e-commerce company has violated rules. Many products are sold on Shopee at low prices of Rs 1, Rs 9, Rs 49 etc.

This is a deliberate pricing strategy adopted by the e-commerce giant with the intention of reducing prices of products to nonsensical and loss-making levels in the short-term; so as to undercut and extinguish small sellers and retailers in the long term, said traders body CAIT.

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