Flipkart, Amazon may not meet new guidelines for marketplaces this year. Here’s why

Indian e-commerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon will not be able to comply with few of the government’s new guidelines for the marketplaces.

They will not be able to meet the recent regulation to cap any vendor on their platforms at 25 per cent of total sales.

"It is an accounting issue that normally has to be collated at the end of the fiscal year. The 25 per cent data can be given over a period of time and not immediately," ET quoted sources as saying.

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The 25 per cent rule has left many startup owners in lurch, especially those who have over 25 per cent threshold on their portfolio.

For instance, Amazon India’s one of the largest vendors is Cloudtail.

"We would not like to speculate on the share of Cloudtail or any other seller till we close our books for the year and given how recent the Press Note 3 is. We will put a process in place to inform sellers in case they are close to or likely to breach the 25 per cent guidance," an Amazon India spokesperson said in an emailed reply to ET.

Flipkart is reported to trim the contribution of WS Retail in next one year to meet the new guidelines.

Meanwhile, Snapdeal is meeting the 25 per cent norm.

"Snapdeal has nearly 300,000 sellers from across India. Given the span and depth of our seller base, even the bigger ones account for much less than the 25 per cent threshold mandated for any single seller," Snapdeal spokesperson told ET.

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