Amazon, Google could face issues
India's new draft for e-commerce rules will help Indian start-ups boost their presence and could lead to tough and a better way to see how companies take care of data. The aim is to introduce more service providers and avoid any digital monopolies. However, they can cause trouble for tech majors such as Amazon and Google. Read on to know more about this and how Amazon and Google can face issues in the country.
New e-commerce policy draft
According to a report by The Bloomberg, new e-commerce rules have been suggested in a draft made by the Ministry of Commerce’s Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade. The draft hints at the appointment of an e-commerce regulator that will keep an eye on the industry and ensure that it works cordially. To recall, the policies have been underway for over 2 years now.
It will aim to access 'information resources' and various companies' source codes and algorithms so that companies don't involve in "digitally-induced biases." Additionally, the use of 'explainable' AI will also be monitored to see how AI is used by various companies.
The new rules aim to help the Indian startups to bloom since companies such as Amazon, Google, and more have an edge over them. The report states, "India’s roaring digital economy, with half a billion users and growing, is witnessing pitched battles in everything from online retail and content streaming to messaging and digital payments. Global corporations lead in each of these segments, while local startups have sought help from a sympathetic government that recently banned dozens of apps backed by Chinese technology giants."
In addition to this, the draft policy mentions about the way data will be stored. There are high chances the data will be stored locally. It will be decided who will store data in India. “Government, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, will define the categories of e-commerce that would require mirroring or localization,” the draft said.
As per the draft policy, the e-commerce firms will be required to provide data to the government within 72 hours. The data could be information related to details of sellers, including phone numbers, customer complaint contacts, email and addresses, national security, taxation, law and order, products' country of origin, and more.
The draft policy will soon go on the government website for stakeholders to comment and provide their opinions.
