Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to enforce strict monitoring of quick commerce companies such as Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto, etc., through consumer protection (e-commerce) rules and e-commerce policies. Seeking immediate steps to ensure quick commerce businesses “comply with laws and regulations”, the confederation in a letter to Goyal accused them of misusing foreign investments to distort the country’s retail market, allegedly posing a significant threat to small shopkeepers.
“Quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto, and Swiggy are misusing funds received through foreign direct investment (FDI) as these companies are engaged in controlling suppliers, dominate inventory, and arbitrarily determine product prices,” CAIT National President BC Bhartia said in the letter on December 29.
Bhartia said the platforms’ primary objective appears to be eliminating small neighbourhood grocery stores and taking over their markets.
He maintained that akin to e-commerce companies, quick commerce players are using quick commerce to harm India’s retail sector.
Bhartia further accused quick commerce companies of raising over Rs 54,000 crore through FDI but not investing in infrastructure nor creating long-term assets.
“Instead, they have used these funds to cover business losses, control supply chains, and offer deep discounts through select vendors, which is highly objectionable. These companies have set up numerous dark stores across the country for supply, which is against the rules prohibiting them from establishing any kind of store,” he added.
However, quick commerce companies have denied allegations of negative impact on kirana stores in the country and non-compliance with regulations. According to a recent report by Motilal Oswal, Blinkit had a 46 per cent share in the quick commerce market in Q1 FY25 followed by a 29 per cent share of Zepto and a 25 per cent share of Instamart.