E-commerce industry seeks extension of March 9 deadline on draft policy feedback

The e-commerce industry is seeking an extension of March 9 deadline for feedback on the draft e-commerce policy by at least a month, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNBC-TV18.

Ever since the 40-page draft policy was published on February 23 by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the industry members have held consultations and discussions to formulate feedback on certain key issues by March 9.

Despite differences on certain issues, the members unanimously agreed on seeking an extension to the deadline, which is considered very short especially since it is a 40-page document with extensive coverage of issues from data storage to data localisation, said the above mentioned sources on condition of anonymity.

Several industry members have held discussions through associations such as FICCI, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) while other bodies such as Nasscom and IndiaTech have also sought comments from various industry members.

The industry associations are seeking an extension of at least two weeks for feedback, and while some have already reached out to the government with a request to extend the deadline, the others are set to do so in the next few days, said the sources.

Some industry members are concerned about the impact of the policy on proposals related to data sharing and access to source code, regulation of advertising rates, etc.

Operational costs that prop up while adhering to some of the clauses are also weighing on the minds of some of the industry members.