Indian sellers and consumers are concerned over their payments and refunds owing to the ban of 59 Chinese apps, including e-commerce platform Club Factory. The Chinese e-commerce platform is popular for cheaper goods across the fashion, lifestyle and electronic segments coming from China.
While the company has been facing government scrutiny over its various trade practices, it has been able to hold on to a set of consumers looking for cheaper goods and was also trying to increase the base of Indian sellers here. Merchants TOI spoke to complained of delayed payments, which started earlier in the month. And now, the ban on the app is leading to uncertainties.
“Payments have been getting delayed for a few weeks now since the China issue started earlier in the month. Also, it would impact my ability to issue refunds of existing orders. They are not committing,” a seller said. At least two other sellers expressed similar concerns.
Since the announcement of the ban on Chinese apps in India, consumers also expressed concern over their existing refunds and order cancellations on social media platforms like Twitter.
“Government must ensure all payments collected by the e-commerce marketplace operator on behalf of sellers are kept in escrow immediately and duly settled to sellers,” said AIOVA, a group of online vendors. As of Tuesday evening, the platform was live and its app on Google Play Store was still available.
Club Factory did not comment on TOI’s specific query on vendor payments and consumer refunds, but said that it remains complied with all local laws.
“We are empowering over 30,000 registered Indian sellers with a strong focus on MSMEs in the country. Club Factory is the only e-commerce player that has empowered local sellers in India by providing them a level-playing field by not charging any commission fees. We have always been willing and continue to remain committed to working with the government to resolve any concerns,” a company spokesperson said.
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