Lok Sabha Question No. 73 (STARRED), answered on 2018-07-23
Subject: National e-Commerce Policy
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, HARI BABU KAMBHAMPATI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 73 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd  JULY,2018

## NATIONAL E-COMMERCE POLICY

## *73.   SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

DR. KAMBHAMPATI HARIBABU:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to frame a National e-Commerce Policy (NEP) to deal  with  issues  including  competition,  regulation,  data  privacy,  taxation  and technical aspects such as localisation of servers and technology transfer and if so, the details and the salient features thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has set up a task force to finalise the contours of the said policy and if so, the details thereof along with the time by which the policy is likely to be implemented;
- (c) whether  India  is  under  intense  pressure  to  negotiate  international  rules  on  ecommerce under the World Trade Organisation,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether  the  companies  operating  taxi-aggregator  services  etc.  are  in  violation  of policy and if so, the details thereof along with the measures being taken to address the issue; and
- (e) whether the Government has incurred a major fiscal loss in the absence of any such NEP and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- a) to e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 73   FOR ANSWER ON 23 rd  JULY,2018  REGARDING 'NATIONAL E-COMMERCE POLICY'.

(a)  &(b): Department  of  Commerce  initiated  an  exercise  and  established  a  Think Tank on 'Framework for National Policy on E-commerce' and a Task Force under it and  has  deliberated  on  the  challenges  confronting  India  in  the  arena  of  the  digital economy  and  electronic  commerce  (e-commerce).  Some  of  the  issues  that  were discussed by the think tank included aspects of e-commerce and the digital economy like  physical  and  digital  infrastructure,  the  regulatory  regime,  taxation  policy,  data flows,  server  localisation,  Foreign  Direct  Investment  (FDI),  technology  flows,  skill development and trade-related aspects. The first meeting of the Think Tank was held on 24.04.2018; meeting of the subgroups was held during 20th-22ndJune, 2018 and the first meeting of the Task Force was held on 6th July, 2018.

(c): Electronic Commerce at the World Trade Organization (WTO)is discussed under the 1998 Work Programme which has an exploratory and experience sharing focus. There was a strong push in the run up to the Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) held from 10 to 13 December 2017 in Buenos Aires at the WTO to prematurely obtain a  mandate  to  initiate  comprehensive  negotiations  on  all  aspects  of  E-commerce, covering goods, services and intellectual property rights, without adequate deliberations to reach a common understanding. However, through the efforts of India and various countries at the MC11 of the WTO in December 2017, it was decided to, inter alia, continue with the non-negotiating mandate of the existing Work Programme on E-commerce.

A Joint  Ministerial  Statement  (JMS) was  issued  on  behalf  of  around  seventy  WTO members, supporting rule-making on E-commerce. Under this initiative, discussions are underway on several proposals tabled by the participants. India is not a member of the JMS initiative.

(d): The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has come out with the taxi policy guidelines in December 2016, in which they have proposed certain guidelines for taxi aggregators.

(e): Since  1998,  WTO  members  have  agreed  not  to  impose  custom  duties  on electronic transmission during the meetings held every two years. The moratorium has been  extended  periodically  at  the  Ministerial  Meetings    which  are  held  every  two years.

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