CUTS
TRAI Consultation Paper on Encouraging Innovative Technologies, Services, Use Cases, and Business Models through Regulatory Sandbox in Digital Communication Sector
Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) expresses its gratitude to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for inviting comments on the Consultation Paper (CP) on Encouraging Innovative Technologies, Services, Use Cases, and Business Models through Regulatory Sandbox in Digital Communication Sector.
Status of E-Consumers in India – Consumer Welfare Index
The broad objective of the project is to analyse and evaluate the status of e-consumers, while studying the e-commerce in multi-brand retail trade in India. The following research questions have been answered through the project.
The Evolving Context and Dynamics of the WTO Joint Initiative on E-commerce
This report rovides a state of play of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Electronic Commerce as of December 2022, focusing on developments in its fifth year, 2022, while situating it in the evolving e-commerce governance landscape at the national, regional, and multilateral levels.
At the national level, reports on increased policy activity related to e-commerce have warned against increased fragmentation. Regionally, Digital Economy Agreements emerged as more flexible arrangements that may be more suitable for capturing technological trends and innovations impacting e-commerce, such as artificial intelligence. At the multilateral level, and in the aftermath of COVID-19, bridging the digital divide became the core objective for discussions on reinvigorating the WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.
Recent literature on e-commerce and global trends of e-commerce governance, the dynamics of the JSI negotiations in 2022, and the changes in the updated consolidated negotiating text circulated by the JSI co-conveners on December 22, 2022, point to the likelihood of JSI participants opting for a less ambitious agreement focusing on the lower-hanging fruit of e-commerce facilitation by the 13th Ministerial Conference while leaving contentious market access focus issues to potentially dealing with them later.
This report has been produced with funding by UK aid from the British Government. The Umbrella Grant is a project of the Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund (TAF2+) and is implemented by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and CUTS International, Geneva. Views expressed in the publication are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect HM Government’s official positions or those of TAF2+.
Response to Open Network for Digital Commerce Consultation Paper : Building Trust in the ONDC Network
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has invited public comments on its Consultation Paper “Building Trust in the ONDC Network”1. This is done to collect useful inputs for developing effective mechanisms for building trust in the ONDC Network and performing early course corrections. The paper discusses the various stages in the life cycle of a transaction under the ONDC model, explaining what measures ONDC has taken to foster trust at each stage and posing specific questions to solicit feedback.
