Import of toys into India in the last three years has shown a decreasing trend, Parliament was informed Wednesday.
Imports of other toys, reduced-size models and similar recreational models shrank 53.58% on-year in FY21 to $129.63 million while those of video game consoles and machines, articles for funfair, table or parlour games fell 21.21% at $38.12 million. Inbound shipments of festive, carnival or other entertainment articles, including conjuring tricks and novelty joke contracted 37.61% in 2020-21 at $10.17 million against the previous fiscal, Minister of State for commerce and industry Som Prakash said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
Shipping containers
The government told Parliament that an inter disciplinary task force consisting of representatives from the ministries of commerce and industry, ports shipping and waterways, railways, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and stakeholders like the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, and Container Shipping Lines Association has initiated coordinated action on identified tracks to address the problem of shortage of containers and high freight rates.
This includes pressing additional shipping/container capacity into service through enhanced import of empty containers by shipping lines to the country, release of abandoned/detained/seized containers, increasing duty free stay of containers, freight discounts for empty repositioning by Railways, transport and marketing assistance for select commodities, measures to improve the turnaround times of containers, and seeking out possible ways to promote use of bulk/break-bulk movement by exporters as compared to containerised movement wherever feasible.
Ecommerce challenges
The government has taken substantial initiatives for promotion of e-Commerce, including through Digital India programme, Parliament was informed.
The programme supplements e-Commerce by way of various initiatives for providing opportunity to small retailers, manufacturers and Self Help Groups for greater outreach. Some of the key initiatives undertaken include Unified Payment Interface.
“E-commerce cuts across various sectors. Therefore the provisions of various laws such as Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Information Technology Act, 2000, Competition Act, 2002, Companies Act, 2013, Consumer Protection Act, 2019 among others are attracted for regulating the sector,” said Minister of State for commerce and industry Som Parkash.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has initiated the ‘Digital India’ programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge-based economy by ensuring digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide.
The Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020 contain a number of provisions including those regarding protection against cancellation charges by e-Commerce companies to safeguard the interest of the consumers in e-Commerce platform, he said.
Source:economictimes.com