nepal_top_newspaper
  • nepal_top_newsportal
  • nepal_top_newsportal
  • nepal_top_newsportal
  • nepal_top_newsportal
nepal_top_newsportal
annapurna post
×
logo
  • Home
  • Editorial
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • InDepth
  • Features
  • ApEx Pioneers
  • My Vision for Nepal
  • Politics
  • What If...?
  • Review
  • ApEx Series
  • Business
  • Interview
  • Mind Matters
  • Obituary
  • Spirituality
  • Auto & Tech
  • Illustration
  • Eating Out
  • Panorama
  • Online Exclusive
  • Making Nepal Better
  • Event
  • Sneak Peek
  • It's Time To...
  • Current Affairs
  • Long Read
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Video
  • Series
  • Archive
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Editorial
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • InDepth
  • Features
  • ApEx Pioneers
  • Series
  • Video
  • Archive
  • About Us
nepal_top_newsportal

Nepal punishing e-commerce

Nepal’s is a unique case as there is neither a roadmap to enhancing e-commerce nor a foundation for it

Bhoj Raj Poudel
Bhoj Raj Poudel published on 2020-09-03 12:09:00
  • change font
  • change font
  • change font

The Covid-19 lockdown has broken seamless global supply chains. Producers, distributors, retailers, and consumers are all trying to figure out new ways of delivering essential goods so that people can survive. American consumers alone spent $347.26 billion online with retailers in the second quarter of 2020, which is 30.1 percent up compared to the same period last year. E-commerce in Pakistan started in early 2000 but just three percent of population was buying online, which during the pandemic has increased by 10 percent. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on global e-commerce and sales are expected to reach $6.5 trillion by 2023, from an estimated $3.46 trillion in 2019. Consumers spent $2.93 trillion online in 2018. But in Nepal the government is arresting suppliers and delivery personnel of online businesses.

Africa’s booming e-commerce relies on one of the most digitally connected populations on the planet, with 400 million active internet users. There, consumers from remote areas rely on e-commerce to save time and money while purchasing goods. The ASEAN countries have already marched ahead in e-commerce with an emphasis on data connectivity, logistics to facilitate the free flow of goods and services, connectivity to facilitate cash flows, and seamless links between the physical and cyber space. Online sales account for 15 percent of retail sales in China and 14 percent globally. Nepal is clearly on the wrong track.

E-commerce is the future path. But it is full of regulatory complexities with issues related to data privacy, consumer protection, delivery, cyber security, market access regulation, and digital payment. Any country that wants to walk on this path should do some serious homework to address these challenges. Shutting down entire industry without such homework harms the economy and blocks the path of progress. Moreover, it has direct consequence on people’s lives in this time of pandemic. People have been locked in, with ever-increasing fear of contracting the dreaded virus. This could be the perfect time for an e-commerce boom.

E-commerce is not limited to serving domestic consumers. It is also being considered as a platform to better integrate regional trade. The World Bank, in its flagship report in December 2019, says e-commerce can boost a range of economic indicators across South Asia, from entrepreneurship and job growth, to higher gross domestic product (GDP), to overall productivity. The report’s lead economist and co-author Sanjay Kathuria claims that by unleashing its online trade potential South Asia can better integrate into international value chains, increase market access, and strengthen commercial links among countries across the region. These words echo louder in this pandemic as the brick-and-mortar businesses are being shaken to their core.

In Nepal, there are no laws to govern e-commerce while other countries have moved much further in regulating it. In 1996, a Model Law on E-commerce (MLEC) was adopted by United Nations Commission on International Trade and Law (UNCITRAL). The objective was to bring a uniform e-commerce international law and to increase electronic transactions to bring them on par with paper-based transactions. India, a UNCITRAL signatory, has established a new regulatory regime for e-commerce businesses by endorsing a slew of laws. As per the new Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules 2020 of Indian Federal Government, it is compulsory for e-retailers to display critical details of all their goods.

Nepal’s is a unique case as there is neither a roadmap to enhancing e-commerce nor a foundation for it. State bureaucracy and police forces are acting as if e-commerce is a criminal activity. But despite the state bullying, e-commerce businesses in Nepal are mushrooming. Hence there is an urgent need to establish an effective regulatory mechanism to strengthen the e-commerce legal framework. This should be done to save people’s time, money and, most importantly, their lives in these dangerous times.

 

Related news

  • The rotten business inside the national flag-carrier
  • Cleaning up e-commerce
  • The budding business of dress renting
  • Encouraging businesses to give back to the society

Trending

  • NC ministers demand resignation of FinMin Sharma in Cabinet meeting
    2022-07-05
    1
  • Death toll in Ramechhap bus accident reaches 13
    2022-07-05
    2
  • Nepse drops by 46. 08 points on Tuesday
    2022-07-05
    3
  • Nepal reports 90 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday
    2022-07-05
    4
  • 2 women found dead in Kathmandu
    2022-07-05
    5
  • One killed as bus hits motorbike in Bhaktapur
    2022-07-05
    6
  • Sankhuwasabha mass murder: 4 sentenced to life imprisonment
    2022-07-05
    7
  • Two more people test positive for cholera in Kathmandu
    2022-07-05
    8

nepal_top_newspaper

Publisher: Captain Rameshwar Thapa

Editor-In-Chief: Biswas Baral

Registration Number: 1294/075-76

Corporate Tower, Tinkune, Kathmandu

Post Box - 2499

Phone - 4482305/ 4482207/ 4469758

Email - info@amn.media,
theannapurnaexpress@gmail.com

Categories

  • Editorial
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • InDepth
  • Features
  • ApEx Pioneers
  • My Vision for Nepal
  • Politics
  • VIDEO
  • ARCHIVE
  • SERIES

Get Latest News!

We will send you breaking news right to your inbox

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • About Us
Powered By yarsha
© 2022 Annapurna Media Network. All rights reserved.