10 Lakh Offline Traders Are Protesting Against Walmart-Flipkart Deal; Will CCI Respond?

In one of the biggest such protest ever, around 1 million or 10 lakh offline traders have embarked on a protest activity today.

Why this massive protest is a big deal, and what can happen now?

1 Million Offline Traders Unite Against Walmart-Flipkart Deal

Led by Confederation of All India Traders or CAIT, which is one of the most influential and powerful lobby of offline traders, around 10 lakh or 1 million traders across India have declared a massive protest today.

This protest or dharna is being organized across 1000 location across the country.

No doubt, this is one of the biggest , and most visible protests against India’s largest ecommerce deal in which Walmart acquired Flipkart for $16 billion.

We have already reported how this mega deal can change everything about ecommerce in India.

What Is The Purpose Of This Protest?

As per CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, this protest is against the Walmart-Flipkart deal, and via this strong protest, CAIT wants Govt. to get the message loud and clear: Walmart will destroy Indian SMEs and small traders.

Praveen alleged that  “e-commerce market place has been vitiated to a great extent in past years by several leading e-commerce companies by indulging into all kinds of malpractices including predatory pricing, deep discounting and loss funding”.

Will Competition Commission Of India Respond Now?

As per Praveen, once the merger is complete, Walmart will easily and flawlessly avoid the Govt. notifications related with FDI, which has been updated in FDI policy Press Note No 3 of 2016.

This protest has been programmed so that Govt. take notice of this violation, and stop the merger immediately.

He said, “However, we expect government to intervene and take suitable action in accordance with various announcements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to uplift small businesses in the country. This deal will directly affect small traders of the country who will not be able to compete with Walmart,”

CAIT Opposes Walmart-Flipkart Deal

Ever since the mega deal between Walmart and Flipkart was announced, CAIT has been at the forefront of its opposition, and have left no stone unturned to express their anger.

As soon as the merger was announced, CAIT declared that they will wage a long and bitter legal battle against this deal, as the entry of Walmart via Flipkart will demolish all small brick-and-mortar businesses in India.

While Walmart claims that their acquisition of Flipkart will create millions of new jobs, CAIT is adamant on their claims that Walmart is breaking FDI laws, and this is an unholy alliance, not good for India.

Earlier, reports emerged which indicated that Competition Commission of India or CCI has introduce some structural changes in the deal, but it is not clear whether they will do this under pressure from CAIT or not.

We will keep you updated, as we receive more news and updates.