Amazon, Flipkart Breach Competition Laws In India: Report

According to an Indian antitrust probe, the U.S. ecommerce behemoth Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart were found to have broken local competition laws by favouring some sellers on their shopping websites.

Amazon and Flipkart were the subject of a probe ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2020 for allegedly prioritising certain listings over others and boosting vendors with whom they have business relationships.

Confidential reports obtained by Reuters, including a 1,696-page report on Flipkart and a 1027-page report on Amazon, both dated August 9, reveal that the CCI investigators concluded that the companies had established an ecosystem in which preferred sellers outranked other sellers and showed up higher in search results.

Before CCI employees choose whether to impose any fines, the two corporations will now examine the report and submit any objections.

A complaint from a group of physical shops in Delhi called Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh set off the investigation.

It should be mentioned that smaller retailers in India have been criticising ecommerce behemoths like Amazon and Flipkart for their business practices.

The Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, has recently questioned Amazon's predatory pricing policy, arguing that it puts smaller merchants in danger. "If you make Rs 6,000 crore loss in one year, does that not smell like predatory pricing to any of you?" he asked, referring to the company's Rs 6000 crore loss in India.