Confederation of All India Traders
“Vyapur Bhawan”
925/1, Naiwala, karol Bagh,New Delhi-110005.
Phone: +91-11-45099884, Telefax:+91-11-45032665
Email: teamcait@gmail.com Website: www.cait.in
15th February, 2022
Ref. No.: 3362/1/50
Shri Piyush Goyal
Hon’ble Minister for Commerce
Government of India
New Delhi
Dear Shri Piyush Goyal Ji,
Sub: Request for a Ban on the Chinese App “Shopee”
1. At the outset, we wish to congratulate the Government of India for the bold step taken in banning the 54 Chinese Apps; including Garena Free Fire. The sovereign integrity and security of India is paramount and by banning these Chinese Apps, India has sent a clear message to the world that it will not be subjected to the economic terrorism of Beijing.
2. In this context, we would like to bring to your attention the conduct of operations by an e-commerce entity, Shopee, Shopee, you will note is owned by SEA Limited, the same entity that owns Garena: Free Fire.
3. SEA Limited is controlled by Tencent and its Chinese founder Forest Li (who recently became a Singa-porean national). Importantly, both Garena and Shopee store all of their data on Tencent Cloud. I am sure that it is in light of these Chinese links that the Government has banned Garena: Free Fire. Given that both Shopee and Garena are owned by the same parent. company – SEA Limited and use Tencent Cloud (to store data of Indian citizens), I write to you today to include Shopee in the list of Apps banned.
4. You will note that Press Note 3 (2020) series published by your good office on 17.04.2020 (“Press Note”) mandates prior approval of the Government of India in case, any investment is made in India by an entity of a country sharing land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment in India is situated in a land bordering country. However, in a blatant violation of PN3; Shopee has incorporated a company (SPPIN India Private Limited) in India and launched its operations. As per latest media reports, Shopee does about 3-3.5 lakh orders per day.
5. In this background, it is imperative that your good offices take emergent steps to *(i) ban the Shopee app from Google Play Store and App Store; and (ii) launch investigate* into the affairs of the company, SPPIN India and take appropriate action in accordance with law for having investors of Chinese origin without seeking prior permission from the Government.
6. We are hopeful that this issue will receive your due attention and that appropriate action will be taken to protect the interests of small traders and retailers in India.
Thank You. With kind regards
Truly yours
Praveen Khandelwal
National Secretary General
Confederation of All India Traders
