The Competition Commission of India (CCI) may move the Supreme Court (SC) with regards to the anti-trust case against e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart. The intent of the commission is to transfer the writ petitions that have been filed with this regard by several high courts, including Karnataka, Telangana, Madras, and Kolkata.
This is as per a Mint report. The investigation conducted by the commission found out that the two e-commerce platforms reportedly flouted the competition laws of the country. The investigation claimed that the two e-commerce platforms preferred certain sellers over others, hence breaching the anti-trust laws, as per a Reuters report.
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"Each of the anti-competitive practices alleged... were investigated and found to be true," as per the CCI report on both platforms that was seen by Reuters.
The issue started in 2020 when the commission started the investigation against the two e-commerce platforms. This was after a complaint by Delhi-based trade association Vyapar Mahasangh for favoring select sellers.
However, the issue was stalled after there were petitions filed against the CCI investigation with regards to procedural lapse. In October this year, the Karnataka High Court halted the probe against the e-commerce platforms due to the error. As per reports, the Directorate General (DG) of CCI, who was investigating the case against the two e-commerce platforms, conducted a procedural error. Without taking approval from the commission, the DG listed sellers as "third parties" instead of “opposite parties.”.
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Amazon-Flipkart Case Hits Roadblock
As per the Economic Times, Justice Hemant Chandangoudar said, “The petitioners argue that the DG's actions violate established regulations, as it is mandatory to obtain CCI’s approval before changing a party’s classification from third to opposite in an investigation.”
Recently, smartphone maker Xiaomi claimed that without taking consent from them, they were made an opposite party in the CCI investigation against Amazon and Flipkart. While the CCI sought information from the smartphone maker as a third-party company, it was later changed into an opposite party.
In a Roc filing, the smartphone maker reportedly said, “Unexpectedly, the DG report, without putting the company on notice or giving it an opportunity to be heard, has arrayed it as an opposite party.”
Now, the intent of the CCI to go to the SC is to combine all related cases into one. Currently, the commission is reportedly talking to experts about the same.
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