The government brought in the new policy in February after complaints from small Indian traders who said the e-commerce giants used their control over inventory from affiliated vendors to create an unfair marketplace in which they offered major discounts. Such practices are now prohibited.
The rules led to a brief disruption of Amazon's online operations in February and shocked Walmart, which had just months before invested $16 billion in acquiring control of India's Flipkart in its biggest ever deal.
The United States government and American firms have voiced concerns about several recent Indian policies. Other than stricter e-commerce rules, India has demanded companies to store more of their data locally. In 2017, the United States lodged a written protest against India's decision to cap medical device prices.
Goyal has had a series of meetings since last week with foreign and Indian e-commerce firms and technology companies with an aim to iron out policy issues. He has also discussed what government press releases describe as "threats" local firms face from "large foreign competition".
On Monday, concerns around online discounts available on Amazon and Flipkart were discussed specifically during the meeting, with both companies asked by government officials about how they price products online, the sources said.
Amazon and Flipkart argued they provide logistics support and other services to small Indian retailers who use their e-commerce platforms to boost their businesses, said the third source who attended the meeting.
"Goyal said he doesn't want uncertainty for businesses ... he talked about having an inclusive policy that protects interests of all stakeholders," said one of the sources.
