India’s antitrust body has called for a probe into alleged competition law violations by US-based ecommerce giant Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart in the country.
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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) noted four practices that both Amazon and Flipkart allegedly carry out, which includes exclusively launching certain phones, featuring preferred sellers, implementing deep discounts, and preferentially promoting private labels.
According to the CCI order, these kinds of arrangements and discounting warrant an investigation because they “are being used as an exclusionary tactic to foreclose competition and are resulting in an appreciable adverse effect on competition.”
The regulatory body has instructed its director general to complete an investigation and submit a report within two months. The order comes after CCI issued a warning on Saturday to dominant ecommerce platforms, saying that they may face investigations into charges of opaque behavior and unfair practices.
“We are currently reviewing the document. The Flipkart group is fully compliant with all applicable laws and FDI regulations,” a Flipkart spokesperson said. “We take pride in democratizing ecommerce in India and giving market access to lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of MSMEs, sellers, artisans, and small businesses, making quality and affordable goods available to consumers through our transparent and efficient marketplace while creating lakhs of jobs.”
A spokesperson for Amazon said that the company welcomes the opportunity to address the allegations, saying that “we are confident in our compliance, and will cooperate fully with CCI.”
Editing by Charmaine de Lazo
(And yes, we’re serious about ethics and transparency. More information here.)
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