Walmart, the retail giant in the United States, is also the parent company of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart. The American company has been running Flipkart for almost about a year after completing the acquisition. In this period, the Indian government has made notable changes to the e-commerce landscape in the market. Some of these rules have changed the e-commerce sector in noticeable ways. In fact, it is probably the first time that the government made such significant changes since the rise of e-commerce. These rules range from how a company actually goes about selling products to the ways of investing in the company.
Most of the changes in e-commerce were came into effect or were set in motion last year in 2018. This was around the time when Walmart initially expressed its intent to acquire the Indian e-commerce giant. The parent company of Flipkart did not really express its views on the changes. However, a recent report indicates that the company thought that these changes were not positive. Walmart told the United States government that the new rules were not good Reuters reports. Walmart revealed that the new investment rules for e-commerce in India “were regressive”. In addition, the company also stated that these rules “had the potential to hurt trade ties”.
Taking a closer look, the email asked “USTR” to try and delay the implementation of the rules by six-months. The report indicated that this is not the only place where Walmart has faced regulatory oversight. In the recent past, the retail giant has faced problems in Mexico and Britain as well. However, such problems have not scared Walmart investors. Shares of the company have increased by 21 percent since the beginning of the year.
Flipkart owner Walmart responds to the report
The report revealed that lobbying did not result in any positive changes. Walmart stated that these changes “came as a total surprise” in an email sent to the Office of United States Trade Representative back in January. Walmart issued a statement to Reuters in response to the report adding that it was a “past issue and Walmart and Flipkart are looking ahead.”
