August 2021 Monthly Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 8     IAMAI submission on the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 Terming the proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 as a "deterrent" for the industry's growth, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in its submission to the government highlighted that the rules would likely to have unintended negative consequences for consumers. It raised several concerns and ambiguities from an e-commerce business standpoint and highlighted that the amendments seek to regulate the entire e-commerce supply chain, many elements of Platform to Business (P2B) and Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce which are beyond the remit of the parent Consumer Protection Act (CPA). On 23rd July 2020, the government had notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. Find the news coverage here Rule 10 of Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021, to impact small sellers IAMAI made a submission on Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021, suggesting the removal of Rule 10 from the proposed rules as that would impact small sellers. Under Rule 10, "any person who sells, displays or offers for sale, including on e-commerce platform/marketplace, any product or service of a direct selling entity must have prior written consent from the respective direct selling entity in order to undertake or solicit such sale or offer".  Even the e-commerce marketplace would require the consent of a direct selling entity. This contradicts the existing laws as marketplace e-commerce cannot purchase or sell on its platform as per the rules. The submission recommended the scrapping of Rule 10, especially inclusion of e-commerce marketplace which creates ambiguity and is unnecessary as e-commerce marketplace have clear intermediary role in the laws. It also argued that this will have an adverse impact on the small players as this enhances the ability of major brands to possibly circumvent the deterrence otherwise present in the Indian free market by establishing themselves as direct selling entities. IAMAI submissions on enhancing 'Shipper Infrastructure' The Logistics Committee of IAMAI made policy submissions to the government on enhancing "Shipper Infrastructure", suggesting improvements in facilities for the drivers in the premises controlled by shippers. The submissions covered shipping of goods by posting spot demand via LoadBoards through APIs. In addition, for the welfare of driver, it recommended fixing minimum wages, social security schemes such as ESI/ PF etc. for the drivers, reinforcement of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) and the introduction, implementation, and enforcement of " Electronic Proof of Delivery" in similar lines with e-way bill system. Closed-door Roundtable: Neo-Banking in India: The Technology Leap That Modernizes Everyday Banking | 7th July 2021 The 'by-invite' only virtual closed-door roundtable by Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) & Amazon Web Services (AWS) brought together 10 leaders from the neo-banking sector to share their thoughts around the industry. The leaders highlighted the difference between neo-banks and traditional banks. They also underlined - redefining certain technologies is the need of the hour for building the neo-banking tech stack. Speakers: Sandeep Laxman, Head, Fintech BD, Amazon Web Services (AWS); Amit Kapoor, Founder & CEO, OneStack; Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder and CEO, Paynearby; Anuj Kacker, Co-Founder, Freo; Avinash Godkhindi, CEO, Zaggle; Bhagaban Behera, Co-Founder & CEO, Walrus; Nitin Gupta, Founder and CEO, Uni; Raghunandan G, Founder, Zolve; Sahil Bansal, Co-Founder, Kosh; Saurav Gandhi, Co-Founder & CEO, Bueno Finance; Shashank Mehta, General Manager / Head, RazorpayX; Tarun Nazare, CEO & CPO, Neokred; Tushar Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, StashFin; Tushar Mehndiratta, Co-Founder & CTO, Avail Finance; Vijay Aggarwal, Chief Technology Officer, BharatPe; Vipul Sekhsaria, Chief Networks Officer, Kaleidofin. Panel Discussion: Ugly Truth of Advertising - 'Skip Ad' - and the Shift in the Marketing Mix | 7th July 2021 Advertisers today fight to remain relevant in a world where audiences have all the control. Despite the seemingly overwhelming odds, marketers can still get their message across without interrupting the user experience using the power of conversation media marketing. The panel discussion highlighted some of the advantages of conversational media marketing and how certain challenges of marketers can be resolved with digital tools. Speakers: Anika Tanwar, Vice-President Business, Bobble AI; Abhishek Asthana, Founder, GingerMonkey LLP; Arvind RP, Director - Marketing, Digital, Strategy & Communications, McDonald's India; Premjeet Sodhi, Chief Strategy Officer, Wavemaker; Vanita Keswani, CEO, Madison Media Sigma; Sagar Boke, Head - Customer & Shopper Marketing - Foods & Beverages, Tata Consumer Products. Event: Pursuit 2021 - Combating Financial Frauds with Technology | 14th to 15th July 2021 IAMAI organised the first edition of Pursuit 2021 on 14th - 15th July, with the central theme - Combating Financial Frauds with Technology. It was an effort to get regulators, enforcement agencies, industry experts, tech companies, financial institutions from across the globe to discuss the latest trends, developments and priorities in combating financial crimes. This two-day conference showcased insightful discussions and trends around how to keep security threats at bay. Speakers: Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Government of India; Dr. Gulshan Rai, India's First Cyber Security Coordinator & Distinguished Fellow, ORF; Rama Vedashree, Chief Executive Officer, Data Security Council of India; John Yong, InfoComm Development Authority (IDA) Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore Government; Alberto Pelliccione, Chief Executive Officer, ReaQta; Sanjay Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Kerala Police; Che Sidanius, Global Head of Financial Crime & Industry Affairs, Refinitiv, among others. Link to media coverage Session:Last-Mile Delivery: The Location Edge | 27th July 2021 IAMAI organised a session on 'Last-Mile Delivery: The Location Edge' on 27th July. The discussion highlighted the growing importance of last mile delivery amid the pandemic and the solutions needed to meet the surging demand. The covid-19 pandemic has altered many aspects of our daily lives. Nowhere is this fact more noticeable than in the soaring demand for last-mile delivery. Once regarded more as a "nice to have" capability, last-mile delivery is now a "must-have" component of any business plan. Top logistics and in-house e-commerce operations experts race against time to find the latest solutions for suppliers and hauliers as they work towards meeting the massive surge in demand. Speakers: Prashant Garg, Partner, EY; Abhijit Sengupta, Director and Head of Sales, Southeast Asia and India, HERE Technologies; Bruce Schwack, Chief Communications Officer, Netmeds; Manish Gupta, Vice President Business Operations, Porter India; Michael Pereira, Gen.Mgr, Operations,  Blue Dart Express; Mrinal Chakraborty, CIO, DTDC Express; Nakul Kukur, Co-founder & CEO,  Cell Proplusion; Radheshyam A, AVP - Operations, Swiggy; Ramkesh Jangra, Head Of Supply Chain-SCC, Ericsson; Ranjit Mayne, Chief Project Officer, Shree Maruti Courier Service; Siddharth Agarwal, Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Ecom Express; Sulaizah Saptoe,   APAC Product Marketing Lead, HERE Technologies. Event:Logistics-Tech Conference | 28th to 29th July 2021 IAMAI organised the first edition of Logistics- Tech Conference on 28th-29th July, with the central theme 'Transforming Indian Logistics via Technology'. The two-day virtual conference aimed to provide a platform to all logistics and supply chain players along with their ecosystem partners to come together and chart a roadmap for the sector's overall growth and development. The summit focussed on understanding how the future of the sector shall unfurl in the coming decade and the role of technology in fuelling its growth story. Speakers: Jason Jameson, SVP & General Manager, APAC, HERE Technologies; R Dinesh, Managing Director, TVS Logistics; Rohit Bhayana, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Lumis Partners; Umesh Revankar, CEO & MD, Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited; Vineet Agarwal, Managing Director, Transport Corporation of India Limited ; Anirudha Karnataki, VP - SCM, CEAT Tyres; Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur, VP & Global Head of Logistics and Supply Chain Excellence, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories; K B Nagaraju, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Bigbasket; K T Prasad, MD & RVP - Sales (India & SAARC), Zendesk; Nitin Jayakrishnan, Founder & CEO, Pando Corporation; Prof S Ganesan, Head - Educational Initiatives, Logistics Skill Council, LSC; Ravikumar Nair, Vice President- Logistics, Petrochemical Solids (Polymer & Polyester), Reliance Industries, among others. Session: Building Resilient Brands with Purpose-Led Marketing | 29th July 2021 The past year has brought a significant wave of change in consumer behavior and how they perceive and interact with brands. Consumers today seek authentic and meaningful connects with trustworthy brands which align with their values and beliefs. In an ever-evolving business landscape, Purpose is the core foundation for building brand trust. The lack of trust in a brand can acutely impact the consumers' purchase behavior. The big question around trust is how best to create it. Marketers today play a pivotal role within the ecosystem to build trust and value for businesses through purpose-driven marketing strategies. The session discussed -- how marketers can build authentic and personalised experiences through a robust purpose-driven marketing strategy. Speakers: Aditya Varadarajan, Head of Account Management, InMobi; Atishay Jain, Senior Manager, SplashLearn; Hitarth Saini, Head of Marketing, Freo; Jacob Joseph, Head of Sales, Microsoft Advertising, InMobi; Prathamesh Dembla, Head of Growth, Licious; Ramesh Ravishankar, Senior Director, Marketing, Freshworks; Ranjit Behera, Head of Marketing, Mygate; Reena Mishra, Senior Partner Sales Executive, Microsoft; Rohit Dosi, Director, Microsoft Advertising Business, InMobi; Sandesh Gupta, Sr. Manager Digital Marketing, Wakefit; Shirish Agarwal, Marketing Communication & Brand, Panasonic. IAMAI Startup Foundation/Mobile10x A demo session on GoogleAppsheet NoCode Platform to build amazing DoItYourself Business Appson by Mani Kumar Lakkaraju  | 23rd July 2021 An interactive demo session was addressed by Manikumar Lakkaraju, Chairman of the Board -IceUno. He gave insights on easy ways of using googleappsheet nocode platform for startups. Mani started with demo presentation on building an app on nocode platform also an overview on building app,kanban board, product league catalogue, democratize apps, ATAWAD, nocode hacakathon. The session was supported by Startup Karnataka and KITS, Govt. of Karnataka.