Government refers traders pleas against Amazon

Government refers traders pleas against Amazon

Subject :Economy

Section:

In News: Centre has asked the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) to take action on trade body CAIT’s representation seeking urgent steps against Amazon India, in light of recent US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint against the e-commerce giant.

Key Points:

• Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the Commerce and Industry Ministry has forwarded Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT)’s representation to the DCA and CCI
• The US Case:
  • FTC, in its complaint, charged that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling them into Amazon Prime. Specifically, Amazon used manipulation, coercive or deceptive user interface designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions, FTC had submitted to the US court.
  • FTC charged that Amazon put in place a cancellation process designed to deter consumers from successfully unsubscribing from Prime.
• What CAIT plea says:
  • Amazon as per the representation Amazon is favouring a few preferred/controlled related sellers and service providers at the cost of smaller independent sellers and service providers.
  • It is using the same deceptive tactics as seen in the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint.