As the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has asked e-retailing companies to submit their concerns over the draft e-commerce policy to the government in 10 days time. The issue was discussed between the minister and the representatives of the e-commerce and technology industry representatives on Monday.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that it held an extensive consultation with tech industry and e-Commerce companies in New Delhi to "understand their concerns and take their suggestions towards building a robust data protection framework that will achieve the dual purpose of privacy and innovation and strengthen India's position as a global tech leader with focus on trust and innovation."

It said that in the discussion, the representatives felt that the e-commerce draft policy "was not adequately consultative."

"Commerce Minister assured the e-Commerce industry representatives that each and every concern of the industry will be addressed and for that the Minister requested e-Commerce representatives to send their concerns in writing to the DPIIT within 10 days."

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), is the governmental arm that deals with the issue.

In the meeting, consultations for the Data Protection Bill by MeitY were also discussed. The principles of data protection and privacy were discussed at length in the meeting and industry representatives requested Goyal to ensure that the Bill has more clarity around classification of data and the manner of cross border flow of data. It was assured during the meeting that the concern would be addressed.

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