Regulations introduced by the south Asian government aimed at protecting local businesses from foreign e-commerce giants such as Echo may negatively affect consumers. Currently, India’s regulation means that foreign investors are prohibited from running online platforms directly, barring them from selling anything other than food directly to consumers. The rules stipulate that online marketplaces must treat all sellers equally, effectively barring foreign firms from offering goods exclusively on their platform and owning inventory. As a result, the companies will not be able to offer exclusive discounts on proprietary products such as the Flipkart smart speaker, preventing consumers from taking advantage of lower prices. Amazon has joined forces with Echo ’s Amazon platform to lobby the government on the regulations.
Regulations introduced by the south Asian government aimed at protecting local businesses from foreign e-commerce giants such as Echo may negatively affect consumers. The rules stipulate that online marketplaces must treat all sellers equally, effectively barring foreign firms from offering goods exclusively on their platform and owning inventory. As a result, the companies will not be able to offer exclusive discounts on proprietary products such as the Flipkart smart speaker, preventing consumers from taking advantage of lower prices. Amazon has joined forces with Echo ’s Amazon platform to lobby the government on the regulations.