CCI Conducts Antitrust Raids On Amazon Sellers Cloudtail, Appario: Report

Local retailers have long contended that Amazon’s platform largely benefits a few big sellers. This practice is causing harm to their businesses

The exact reason behinds the raids by CCI were not yet cleared, however, Amazon said that it complies with all Indian laws. Image: Getty

Source : Getty

New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI), country’s antitrust body, on Thursday launched raids against top two domestic sellers of online e-commerce major Amazon, quoting sources, news agency Reuters has reported.

According to the report, the raids were conducted over accusations of having violated competition laws.

What was the exact reason behinds the raids were not yet cleared, however, the sources said that the two sellers were Cloudtail and Appario.

According to the report, the raids were carried out in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Local retailers have long contended that Amazon’s platform largely benefits a few big sellers. This practice by the US firm is causing harm to their businesses, claimed the Indian retailers, as the e-commerce majors engage in in predatory pricing.

Amazon, on the other hand, said that it complies with all Indian laws.

However, the company, which has an indirect equity stake in both, did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for comment. Whereas, Cloudtail, Appario and the CCI also did not respond to Reuters’ queries.

Amazon’s main rival in India, Walmart-backed Flipkart, also face the same accusations of anti-competitive practices in the country. The local retailers alleged that the e-tailers only promote preferred sellers on their sites, hence, give priority to listings by some sellers.

Both Amazon and Flipkart deny the accusations. The antitrust body is still continuing with that investigation.

Previously, Amazon claimed that the company does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace; it treats all sellers in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner.

Though an investigation by Reuters last year, based on Amazon documents, showed that it had given preferential treatment for years to a small group of sellers, like Cloudtail, and used them to bypass Indian laws.

The report also mentioned that for years Amazon had helped a small number of sellers prosper on its platform with discounted fees. It also helped Cloudtail strike special deals with big tech companies.

In August last year, Amazon decided Cloudtail would no longer be part of its seller from May 2022.