Paytm ECommerce Pvt. Ltd, operator of online marketplace Paytm Mall, will take legal action against Unicommerce eSolutions Pvt. Ltd for data misuse, chief operating officer Amit Sinha said.
“Definitely,†Sinha told VCCircle when asked whether Paytm Mall will take legal recourse against the technology solutions arm of online retailer Snapdeal.
Sinha’s comments come barely a fortnight after Unicommerce said that Paytm had withdrawn the case filed in April 2016 as it failed “to provide any proof†to support the allegations of data misuse.
Paytm Mall is majority owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings. It was created last year when Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led One97 Communications Ltd separated its e-commerce and digital payments businesses under Paytm ECommerce and Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, respectively.
Before the business division, Paytm had filed a lawsuit against Unicommerce in the Delhi High Court, accusing it of accessing confidential business data on its commerce platform via the sellers on the platform. Unicommerce is used by many sellers on Paytm’s platform to manage orders and inventory across multiple marketplaces and carts.
Paytm had also alleged that Unicommerce was using Paytm’s logo and name without authorisation.
However, Sinha clarified that the case was filed by the undivided Paytm, which is no longer in the business of ecommerce and that is why it has withdrawn the case. Paytm Mall, therefore, will follow up on the matter, he said.
“The thing is that we are not integrated with Unicommerce and it is being projected that the Unicommerce platform allows Paytm as an option for merchants, which is not true,†he said. “So, we will take legal recourse to ensure this doesn’t happen.â€
Festive season sales
Responding to queries on Paytm Mall’s performance this festive season, Sinha said that the e-commerce platform recorded about 9,50,000 transactions with retailers from around 300 cities. The company is targeting cumulative gross merchandise value of around $4 billion by the end of this year.
Sinha also said that Paytm Mall’s traffic surged 30% this festive seasons, with maximum sales in the appliances, mobiles and consumer goods categories. He said 60-70% business came from non-metro cities.
Sinha admitted that competition from Amazon and Flipkart was tough but said that he was targeting retailers in smaller cities and towns on priority.
Talking about the company’s growth strategy, Sinha said that the company is open to making acquisitions but added that there was no such deal in the horizon. He emphasised that the focus is on scaling up geographically, expanding categories and merchants’ network.
Asked whether there was any possibility of a business move in collaboration with Alibaba, he said that the two companies were not looking at new businesses but the possibility could not be ruled out. “Paytm Mall is six-month old. There is a lot of scaling up that needs to be done,†he said.
