The e-commerce firms are allegedly selling substandard Chinese items to their customers cheating them and causing State exchequer loss by way of taxes.
Due to the increasing sale of Chinese products, the State’s micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector of State is losing business and promoters of the State’s own textiles and handloom products find it difficult to sell the products.
While the online shopping has made life faster and easier as people get articles of their choice sitting their home needs, there is also a huge competition among the e-commerce sites luring customers with huge rebates and discounts.However, the customers are now coming up with allegations that they are not getting the exact products they had ordered online.
The colour and quality differ from the original order. The reason is Chinese products are replacing the brands and dominating the market.The customers get cheated for products such as shoes, clothes, toys and home appliances.The risk is higher in case of the purchase of electric bulbs or other electronic items as the products cannot be returned to the companies if not up to satisfaction or the validity period is nominal.
Besides, the State Government is losing crores of rupees in shape of taxes as the offices and godowns of the e-commerce firms are located outside the State.
The small-scale industries are now lagging behind in the race to attract the customers despite a host of their high-quality products. The preference for online shopping may also lead to unemployment in the State and affect its economy, say observers.