On Friday, a prominent Indian lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a major retailers’ group called for the suspension of operations for e-commerce giants Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart in India.
This plea follows reports of antitrust violations by the two companies. According to exclusive Reuters reports, Indian antitrust investigations, which have not been made public, reveal that Amazon and Flipkart breached local competition laws by favoring select sellers and prioritizing certain product listings, thereby stifling competition.
Praveen Khandelwal, a BJP lawmaker, announced his intention to discuss the matter with the federal government and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, advocating for immediate action, including the suspension of the companies’ operations in India.
Khandelwal emphasized that the practices of these e-commerce giants are severely harming the domestic manufacturing sector.
Neither Goyal’s office nor the representatives of Flipkart and Amazon India responded to requests for comments on the matter. Both companies have previously denied any wrongdoing and asserted their compliance with Indian regulations, though they have not addressed the specific findings of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) reports.
Khandelwal, who also serves as the secretary general emeritus of the Confederation of All India Traders, a powerful organization representing around 80 million shopkeepers, has been vocal against the practices of Amazon and Flipkart. He argues that these practices negatively impact smaller retailers and undermine fair competition.
The CCI’s findings are the latest development following a Reuters investigation from 2021, which was based on internal Amazon documents. This investigation revealed that Amazon had provided preferential treatment to a select group of sellers, known as “Special Merchants,” and used these arrangements to circumvent Indian laws.
The timing of these revelations is significant as they come ahead of crucial state elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, industrial regions where traders and retailers are a crucial voting bloc. The findings and the call for action are likely to influence the political discourse in these states.