Mumbai: Indian conglomerates will find their e-commerce game has a significant impact, especially the development of their applications, if the design of consumer rules that prevent “related parties” from sales on the market-based online platform they are applied.
The proposal throws spanners in the Super Group Tata application works, the All-in-One cellular application, which are being tested on key stakeholders, including employees.
Adani Enterprises also prepares to launch super applications.
A super application can carry all products and services from the conglomerate to one platform – allowing users to order shipping wholesale & medicine, order flights & hotel rooms, and access to investment instruments – from one place.
The Company’s law defines related parties as any body company which is a detention, a subsidiary or body association like that and has a shared shareholder chain and director.
Under the proposed rules, substitution group entities such as Titan, Trent, Tata Motors and Taj cannot be part of its super application.
Ditto for the adani group company.
Tatas that have communicated concerns to the consumer ministry, while Reliance has said that it supports the design of the rules.
Last week, Minister of Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal criticized Tatas to object to the design of the regulation and ignored the national interests involved in protecting the brick and mortar business.
The draft rules also have an impact on the relationship between application operators and related parties.
Tata Group Entities will not be able to sell products such as salt and resources on their own e-commerce sites such as Bigbasket.
Likewise, Reliance also won’t be able to host Hamley on Jiomart.
Legal experts suggest that conglomerates can modify the structure by making two super / normal applications – they can sell their own inventory on one and a list of third-party products on the other side.
The rules also limit super / normal applications from having sellers who share brand names.
This means Tata and Adani will not be able to launch the Super NameSake application.
Historically, business houses have grown and built large customer ecosystems by searching for various sectors utilizing their superior brands.