India’s anti-trust body relaunches probe into Amazon’s selling practices

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has re-launched an investigation into Amazon’s selling practices after an Indian court dismissed pleas by Amazon and the Walmart-owned Flipkart to quash the probe, according to reports

One of the largest sellers on Amazon in India is a company called Cloudtail, a £1bn revenue business that is 76 per cent controlled by UK chancellor Rishi Sunak’s billionaire father-in-law, the Murthy family. The remaining quarter of Cloudtail is owned by Amazon, the report added.

The CCI will examine complaints by a traders’ group that small sellers are being driven out of business because the big US platforms are giving preferential treatment to “preferred sellers”.

Under India’s foreign direct investment law, overseas firms are banned from running an online retailer that holds inventory and then sells the goods directly to Indian consumers online.

To counter this, websites such as Amazon.in are run as a “marketplace”, with Indian retailers selling their products via the site in return for paying the company a fee.

But, small traders allege they are being disadvantaged because the US platforms may be favouring a few big sellers.

The issue is a politically sensitive one, as it has the potential of enraging millions of small internet retailers. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has demanded to start the investigation immediately.
The alleged anti-competitive practices listed by the panel are exclusive launches of mobile phones by the e-commerce firms, promoting preferred sellers on their websites, deep discounting practices, and prioritising some seller listings over others.
Amazon has said that it complies with all laws and its India website is a pure third-party marketplace.