E-commerce companies including Amazon, Flipkart have been facing serious allegations of collusion with banks. Traders have complained about this matter to the banking regulator Reserve Bank. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) says that merchants across the country are suffering big losses due to cash back discounts given by banks on purchasing goods from the e-commerce portal. Banks, along with Amazon and Flipkart, are violating the fundamental rights of merchants and consumers. Also, it is also an open violation of the government’s FDI policy, which is being carried out by creating a cartel between banks and companies like Amazon-Flipkart.
CAIT National President BC Bhartia and National General Secretary Praveen Khandelwal say that we will file a separate complaint to the Competition Commission for investigation and action of the bank and Amazon-Flipkart cartel. This kind of connivance is proving harmful for the small traders of the country.
CAIT on Monday sent a memorandum to Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das. It said that many banks are offering 10% discount or cashback from time to time on the purchase of any product from Amazon and Flipkart’s ecommerce portals. Prominent banks are HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, Citibank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HSBC, Bank of Baroda, RBL Bank, Axis Bank etc.
Khandelwal says that these banks are giving cash discounts on shopping through these portals through their debit / credit cards, but even if the same goods are purchased from a shop and paid with the same banks’ cards, this discount Is not available This attitude of banks is discriminatory with merchants and buyers. Also, encourage such offers to buy goods from online portals. Which is a violation of Article 19 and Article 301 of the Constitution. Both these articles guarantee the freedom of trade and commerce in India.
