A Council for Digital Commerce: The Governance Gap Behind India's $120 Billion E-Commerce Market

Article summary

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has launched the E-Commerce Council of India (ECCI), an industry body intended to unify a digital commerce ecosystem it values at about $120 billion — bringing together marketplaces, brands, retailers, logistics and payment providers, startups, MSMEs, exporters and policymakers. The launch matters because India's e-commerce sector has grown far faster than its governance architecture: it is regulated through a patchwork of the FDI policy (which permits 100% foreign investment in the marketplace model but bars it in inventory-based B2C retail), the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, competition law, and data-protection obligations under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. A self-regulatory council can set standards, mediate disputes and speak with one voice to government, but it also raises the classic question of whether industry self-regulation can protect consumers and small sellers or merely entrench the incumbents. The initiative sits alongside the government's own Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which attempts to democratise e-commerce by unbundling it into an interoperable public network. For UPSC aspirants, the ECCI is a window into digital-economy governance, FDI policy in retail, and the tension between platform power and inclusive growth.