CAIT intensifies demand for NRC to regulate e-commerce sector
7 April 2026, Mumbai
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has intensified its campaign for a National Retail Council (NRC) to address persistent regulatory gaps in the e-commerce sector. On April 7, 2026, the trade body formally petitioned the Ministry of Commerce to investigate predatory pricing and deep discounting strategies employed by global marketplace giants. CAIT argues, these practices create an unlevel playing field for India’s 80 million small-scale retailers, who contribute nearly 10 per cent to the national GDP. The proposed council would serve as a centralized oversight body, ensuring that the ‘Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules’ are strictly enforced to prevent monopolistic data harvesting and preferential seller treatment.
Technological integration as a competitive defense
To counter the dominance of large-scale digital platforms, CAIT is accelerating the on-boarding of traditional brick-and-mortar stores onto the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). This initiative aims to democratize digital visibility for mom-and-pop shops, particularly in the apparel and lifestyle segments where margins are increasingly squeezed by online liquidation sales.
The survival of traditional retail depends on a robust regulatory framework that penalizes algorithmic bias and incentivizes fair play, states Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT. By bridging the digital divide, CAIT anticipates a 15 per cent recovery in festive season footfall for physical stores, provided that the proposed National Retail Policy is ratified by the end of the fiscal year.
Empowering Bharat’s retail ecosystem
CAIT is India's apex trade body representing over 8 crore traders across diverse product categories including textiles and electronics. The organization is currently focused on digitizing traditional markets and lobbying for a simplified GST structure. Historically a powerful advocacy group, CAIT aims to formalize the unorganized retail sector to drive long-term economic resilience.
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