Government E-Marketplace reduces seller fees

The Government E-Marketplace has made significant reductions to its transaction charges levied on sellers as it aims to increase ease of doing business on the platform and democratise its operations.

The Government E-Marketplace’s ‘New Revenue Policy’ states that all orders placed on the platform worth up to Rs 10 lakh will attract zero seller fees, ET Bureau reported. The previous ceiling for no seller fees was Rs 5 lakh.
 
“Aligning with the government’s ongoing commitment to foster ease of doing business and build a more inclusive economy, Government E-Marketplace has recently announced a significant reduction in the transaction charges levied on sellers, service providers transacting on its platform,” said the Government E-Marketplace’s additional CEO Ajit B Chavan, the Press Trust of India reported. “Orders above Rs 10 lakh up to Rs 10 crore will be levied transaction charges worth 0.3% of [the] total order value, as compared to earlier transaction charges of 0.45%.”
 
Orders made on the Government E-Marketplace worth Rs 10 crore will be charged a flat fee of Rs 3 lakh. This is a significant reduction to the previous transaction charge cap which was set at Rs 72.5 lakh.
 
“This step is a watershed moment in terms of ease of doing business on GeM and is also in line with [the] government’s commitment of reduction in [the] cost of transactions,” said Chavan. The change to seller fees is especially aimed at helping medium and small enterprises to utilise GeM as smaller businesses often struggle to navigate larger financial barriers to taking on orders.