India eyes single regulator for e-commerce sector: Report

India eyes single regulator for e-commerce sector: Report

RuPay sign

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India will also take steps to develop the capacity for storing data and incentivise its domestic storage, the document said.

Indiais considering asingleregulatorand legislation to address all e-commerce-related issues in the country, in a bid to remove the legal fragmentation currently governing thesector, according to a draft policydocumentseen by Reuters.

Some of the measures suggested in the Draft National Policy Framework include local data storage, mandating the use of home-grown card payment network RuPay for online transactions and enhancing the participation of micro, small and medium enterprises in online retail.

Indiawill also take steps to develop the capacity for storing data and incentivise its domestic storage, thedocumentsaid, adding that the e-commerce industry could be given time to "adjust before localisation becomes mandatory".

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"The government would have access to data stored inIndiafor national security and public policy objectives subject to rules related to privacy, consent etc," the draft policy said.

India's anti-trustregulatorwill consider changing thresholds so that mergers and acquisitions in the e-commercesectorthat potentially distort competition are compulsorily examined, it said.

Flipkart, currently in the process of being acquired by USretail giant Walmart, Amazon Inc's local unit and Snapdeal, backed by Japan's SoftBank, is amongIndia's key e-commerce firms.