Regulation Of Flash Sales And Deep Discounting In India: Legal Challenges And Enforcement Gaps
- IJLLR Journal
- Mar 2
- 2 min read
Shreyas B Jakati, LL.M., (Corporate and Commercial Law), School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, India
ABSTRACT
E-commerce platform expansion and the setting up of consumer markets have been rapid in India. However this rapid growth has created several difficult legal and regulatory issues. Flash sales and various deep discounting practices to draw consumers and manipulate market share are some of the major issues. On one hand these strategies translate to higher consumer choice and lower pricing because of competition worries. On the other hand their alleged unfair trade practice predatory pricing and market distortion remain hot-button issues. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have on numerous occasions stated that these strategies confer unfair advantages to online biggies to the detriment of smaller players. Some attempts were made under Indian law to monitor it mainly using the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 the Competition Act of 2002 and guidelines issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) but by far it faces enforcement issues. Some definitional problems to identify predatory pricing in the digital context jurisdictional clashes among regulators and monitoring algorithm-driven pricing mechanisms further complicate the issue. The study aims to look into the legal and regulatory challenges relating to flash sales and deep discounting in India and assess the efficiency of the existing enforcement machinery. It further attempts to recommend reforms that ensure a fair alignment between consumer welfare and fair competition in the e-commerce sector. The research aims at mapping enforcement gaps as well as shading areas of the regulatory framework to supply a more nuanced view of the issues the regulators and stakeholders face.
Keywords: E-commerce flash sales deep discounting unfair trade practices consumer protection competition law.
