The Confederation of All India Traders (Cait), as a part of its campaign stressing on boycott of Chinese goods, has urged traders to adopt the desi made Mukesh Ambani-promoted video conferencing application JioMeet instead of the US-based Zoom as their communication tool. The move, the industry body said, would also ensure that data are safe.
In a statement issued by the apex body that claims to represent seven crore traders, Cait said that its technology team is assessing other available communication platforms as well which have no backing of Chinese companies.
“The step is taken after several suggestions came from traders across the country and an in-depth study of the research team of Cait which recommended that usage of Zoom as a communication platform can run against the interests of the country. This move is a part of Cait’s ‘boycott Chinese products’ under its mission statement Bhartiya Saamaan-Hamara Abhimaan,” the statement said.
Cait added that there was no acrimony with Zoom but there is enough material available raising concerns about the safety of the platform.
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory saying that Zoom was not safe.
The use of Zoom surged in the wake of coronavirus pandemic when India went into a nationwide lockdown for weeks. Many offices, educational institutions and individuals have been extensively using Zoom for their meetings.
Cait members too have been using Zoom since March 25 due to absence of an Indian alternative, the industry body statement said.
Meanwhile the US-based company, owned by a Chinese-American billionaire Eric Yuan, has said that it is not worried about the upcoming competition. JioMeet offers enterprise-grade host control and security that and can be used for 1:1 video calls and hosting meetings with up to 100 participants. The application has already been downloaded more than 1,00,000 times on Google Play Store within no time.
“Zoom has experienced intense competition since it was established in 2011, and yet we have become the platform of choice for millions of participants around the world,” the company said earlier..
