New Delhi, Leading e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. are not likely to participate in trader's body CAIT's (The Confederation of All India Traders) scheduled programme 'Seedha Samvad' on February 3. This meeting was earlier scheduled for January 27.

The e-commerce players are not likely to be part of these discussions given the number of cases which have been filed by CAIT on various issues pertaining to e-commerce which are under litigation.

Also, the trader's body cannot be the platform to have discussion when they themselves are the interested party in the whole process. Moreover, there already is a parallel stakeholders discussions which is taking place under the aegis DPIIT, Government of India. One such dialogue was recently organised under DPIIT and chaired by Additional secretary Anil Agarwal. The department has asked all the stakeholders to give their feedback on e-commerce policy in writing too.

This latest move by CAIT to invite the e-commerce companies, comes just days after it filed a petition before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeking to terminate the transfer of Cloudtail parent Prione Business Services stakes to Amazon.

The traders' body has called for 'Seedha Samwad' (direct conversation) in association with other trade associations, namely India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), All India Consumer Products Distributors Association (AICPDF), All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), All India Jewelers and Goldsmith Federation (AIJGF), and the Computer Media Dealers Association (CMDA).

CAIT has invited e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Firstcry, Paytm, Shopclues, and Snapdeal, among others. It also includes companies, like BigBasket, Grofers, Swiggy, and Zomato. The invite has also been sent to corporates, including Reliance and Tata as well as global players such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Zoom, and WhatsApp.

As per the invite, CAIT wanted to have joint discussion on the ongoing issues around online trade in the country and make recommendations on the e-commerce policy, which is currently under the draft stage.