New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS): Calling for a decisive fight against the 'gross violation' of laws and rules of the country right under the nose of the government by the big foreign e-commerce companies, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday launched a month-long national campaign, 'E-Commerce Per Halla Bol', in which local trade bodies under the banner of CAIT will hold 'dharnas' in more than 500 cities across the country.

As part of launching the movement, the Secretary General of CAIT, Praveen Khandelwal, took out a protest march from Delhi to Agra, enroute which he participated in dharnas in eight different cities and towns, including Noida, Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Palwal, Nodal, Kosi and Mathura.

CAIT national President B.C. Bhartia and Khandelwal said that the dharnas organised in every corner of the country on Wednesday proved that traders have mobilised against the monopoly business model of the foreign e-commerce companies.

They also said that foreign funded e-commerce companies as well as the Niti Aayog and a few industry organisations are speaking the language of foreign e-tailers to protect their interests, and the CAIT will expose them at an appropriate time.

Bhartia and Khandelwal openly challenged the foreign e-commerce companies, saying that they should no longer consider the country as India of 1857 and give up the idea of becoming another version of East India Company, as this is the India of 2021 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which the traders know how to give a befitting reply to the foreign companies.

The manner in which foreign e-commerce companies have violated Indian laws through their arbitrariness and dishonesty has led to the closure of lakhs of shops in the country, besides affecting domestic trade badly, they said.

Now the traders will no longer tolerate this and until the government does not implement the rules of e-commerce and free the e-commerce business from the clutches of foreign companies, the traders will continue their campaign across the country, CAIT said.

CAIT also questioned as to why the foreign e-commerce companies are furious about the e-commerce rules drafted by the Consumer Affairs Ministry.