India raids Amazon, Flipkart sellers over foreign investment law violations
08 November 2024, Mumbai
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on sellers linked to Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, targeting alleged violations of foreign investment laws. The searches, conducted across 19 locations in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, are part of an ED probe into whether the e-commerce giants indirectly influenced pricing to favor select sellers, against India's marketplace regulations.
The ED’s investigation follows an August antitrust body report, which reportedly found both platforms exerted extensive control over select sellers’ inventory, effectively bypassing rules that prevent foreign firms from holding product stock directly.
This comes after India's commerce minister criticized Amazon's business practices, suggesting they leaned towards predatory pricing. Both Amazon and Flipkart have consistently maintained their compliance with Indian regulations, though neither company nor the ED offered comments on the current investigation.
