New e-commerce rules jolt Amazon.com in India as products vanish

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s revised e-commerce rules caused widespread disruption on Amazon’s India website when they kicked in on Friday, forcing the company to take down its key grocery service and remove a wide range of products such as sunglasses and floor cleaners. The products began to disappear from Amazon India late on Thursday as it began complying with the regulations before a midnight deadline, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. In December, India modified foreign direct investment rules for its burgeoning e-commerce sector, which has drawn major bets from not only Amazon.com but also the likes of Walmart Inc, which last year bought a majority stake in homegrown e-commerce player Flipkart.