The All India Online Vendors Association has written to the Union Government Cabinet Secretary, complaining about being left out of discussions about the e-commerce and trade, and the fact that its appeals to the government are routinely ignored. The Association said it is excluded from any discussion related to its own industry in the Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Planning, Investment, and Internal Trade (DPIIT) who have been allocated e-commerce, retail, and internal trade as per the rules of allocation of business. It also said its letters to higher authorities have always been forwarded to DPIIT which has sat on its letters and internally decided not to engage with the association. Requests for meetings with officers and Commerce Ministry have also been rejected or gone unanswered, the Associated said in the letter, urging the Cabinet Secretary's office to intervene and compel the Commerce Ministry to not hold discussions without AIOVA's inputs. Decisions about the industry are being taken by a close group of individuals, resulting in an "unnatural gain of market size for certain violating entities due to absence of policy and potentially flawed policy", the sellers' body said. The draft e-commerce policy imposes the condition that operators must ensure equal treatment to all sellers and manager seller relations impartially. This policy specification comes when the department and government has ignored the sellers' voices for years on violation of these principles, AIOVA claimed. In addition, the department also takes e-commerce platforms claims that they abide by seller equality…
