After Amazon, Flipkart also files petition challenging CCI's probe


By MYBRANDBOOK


After Amazon, Flipkart also files petition challenging CCI's probe

Flipkart argued that CCI had ordered a probe without initial evidence and was harming competition. Amazon already challenged this order. Amazon presented its arguments against India’s anti-trust body’s probe order, Walmart-owned Flipkart, which is a party to the order, has filed a writ petition challenging the order into alleged violations of competition law.

 

Last week, the Karnataka High Court had issued an interim stay to the Competition Commission of India or CCI’s investigation following Amazon’s writ petition against the probe filed on Feb. 10. The court had granted two months to both the e-commerce companies to file their responses.

 

In Box: CCI had ordered an investigation against both leading ecommerce marketplaces in India – Flipkart and Amazon – for violation of competition law and discounting practices.

 

CCI ordered the probe following complaints from offline traders. According to CCI, both these ecommerce companies had promoted and gave discounts to preferred sellers on its platform. Also, they entered into exclusive partnerships with smartphone brands and in the process, abused their dominant positions.

 

Amazon and Flipkart have faced criticism from offline traders about the steep discounts they offer. They claimed that these ecommerce companies were deeply hurting their businesses. However, both Flipkart and Amazon have strongly denied these accusations and said they were compliant with the law.
 

We are a party to the CCI order and a respondent in Amazon’s writ against the order. Given this position and the High Court stay, as a procedural matter, we are also filing a writ. Flipkart, in its court filing on Feb. 18, said that the CCI probe order is based on no evidence against the platform. According to a Reuters report, the company termed the CCI order ‘perverse and passed without any application of mind’.

The e-commerce company further appealed the court to quash the CCI’s probe. The matter is scheduled to be heard next week. Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court order had also outlined that the CCI probe order lacked material evidence against Amazon and Flipkart to prove that they entered into exclusive deals with smartphone manufacturers.

 

Earlier, Amazon’s counsel had raised questions on CCI’s jurisdiction and called the probe order ‘perverse, arbitrary, untenable in law’.

 

Amazon and Flipkart have been under the scanner over allegations of offering deep discounts, preferred listings, promotion of private labels and exclusive partnerships with phone brands.

 

On January 13, the CCI had issued an order to investigate the alleged competition law violations by Amazon and Flipkart.

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