Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Sunday said it will launch a campaign to form clusters of traders on the cooperative model to step up its efforts against alleged business malpractices by e-commerce companies. The body will convene a two-day traders conference later this month to strategize the roadmap of the 90-day national campaign beginning July 1, 2022. The first phase of the campaign will be launched in Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
“In the wake of current highly vicious scenario in retail trade and e-commerce trade which is highly gripped with the monopolistic, dominating and anti-competitive practices by big corporate houses, FMCG and mobile companies, and others in different verticals even as malpractices of major e-commerce companies are causing huge damage to businesses of small traders, the business community of India has decided to retort back,” CAIT said in a statement. This is in addition to impressing upon the government to roll out retail trade policy, e-commerce policy, and subsequent rules apart from taking the route of the court of law, the body said.
In a joint statement, CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said CAIT will educate and encourage traders to form clusters and pool their resources including finance, technology, and marketing. This will equip them with a substantial amount of finance to improve their purchasing power, which will help them in negotiating with producers, and procure goods at competitive prices.
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“In turn, goods procured can be distributed to members of the cluster and to become competent to face any competition,” the two leaders said. CAIT said it will also propagate a consortium scheme under which traders working in different trade with lending capacity can form a consortium to lend capital, technology, and marketing skills and help in upgradation of the existing retail format.
Bhartia and Khandelwal said CAIT will also urge Cooperative Minister Amit Shah to roll out a cooperative policy for the business community and incentives in tax etc., for units who opt for cluster and consortium schemes. It would also request Shah for a provision under the policy to develop Special Cooperative Parks across the country offering incentives including a rebate in taxes, easy availability of finance at reduced interest rates, imparting technical know-how wherever required for people to be encouraged to adopt the cooperative method of business in all verticals of retail trade.