Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Govt to look into complaints on Flipkart discount sale: Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: The government has received “many complaints” from traders on e- retailer Flipkart’s massive discount sale on Monday that offered deep discounts but also threw open the question of lack of regulatory oversight over India’s booming e-commerce business.
“We have received many inputs. Lot of concerns have been expressed. We will look into it,” commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.
Flipkart’s ‘The Big Billion Day’ overburdened its servers within two hours of the sale being opened and many users complained of landing on error pages and seeing their sale process being interrupted, amid accusations that discounts were offered on inflated prices.
“There are many complaints. We will study the matter... Whether there is a need for a separate policy or some kind of clarification is needed, we will make it clear soon,” said Sitharaman, who is also the minister of state for finance and corporate affairs.
The Confederation of All India Traders has also sought a probe into the business model and trade practices of e-commerce companies to find out how they are offering huge discounts during the festive season.
Flipkart on Tuesday wrote a formal apology to its registered customers for the technical and transaction troubles faced on Monday, when attempting to purchase goods on the website.
The company ear ned the ire of disgruntled shoppers by offering some supposedly discounted items at prices higher than what rivals such as Amazon and Snapdeal were offering.

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