On 23 Feb. 2018, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade ("DPIIT") released the 'Draft National E-Commerce Policy' ("the Draft Policy") which addressed a wide range of issues, such as - data protection and ownership, cross-border data flow, foreign investment, tax and intermediary liability. The public consultation process for commenting on the Draft Policy concluded on 29 March, 2019. Subsequently, the DPIIT has not made public the comments received, thereby not offering an opportunity for stakeholders to provide counter-comments.

Due to the wide impact of the Draft Policy, SFLC.in has submitted a joint letter to DPIIT requesting it to institute a more transparent and consultative public engagement process on the Draft  E-commerce Policy. The letter has been signed by prominent civil society orgs., academicians, experts etc. We have requested the DPIIT to publish all comments received as part of the public consultation on the draft policy and provide an opportunity to stakeholders to submit counter-comments, as is the norm in other  government consultations.

A copy of the joint letter to DPIIT is available here: