Supreme Court in Future Coupons Case: Extends Stay on CCI’s Penalty of Rs. 200 crores on Amazon

Supreme Court in Future Coupons Case: Extends Stay on CCI’s Penalty of Rs. 200 crores on Amazon

The Supreme Court has extended interim relief to the e-commerce giant- Amazon in the Future coupons case and ordered that no recovery proceedings ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) shall be initiated until the next date of hearing i.e., 20 September, 2023.

The two judge’s bench of Justices A.S. Bopanna and M.M. Sundresh ordered, “The interim protection granted on 08.05.2023 to continue.”

The Court directed that no coercive steps shall be taken in relation to the notice issued by the CCI on 25 April against Amazon.

The Apex Court’s order was passed in a plea filed by Amazon challenging the CCI’s 2021 order that imposed a penalty of Rs. 202 crores on the e-commerce giant for not disclosing its interest in Future Retail while investing in Future Coupons.

The order directed Amazon to pay the penalty amount by mid-February 2022. The penalties were imposed in two parts in accordance with separate sections of the law. Thus, Rs. 200 crores and Rs. 2 crores were imposed on Amazon.

Amazon approached the Supreme Court after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) backed the CCI’s decision to defer its approval of Amazon’s deal with the Future Group.

Earlier in May 2023, the Supreme Court stayed the CCI order suspending approval for the e-commerce giant's 2019 deal investment in Future group and also the recovery of the penalty.

In December 2021, CCI suspended Amazon’s 49 percent share acquisition clearance in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), the promoter of the Future Group.

Amazon was fined Rs. 200 crores by the CCI for failing to disclose relevant and crucial information on its 2019 investment arrangement with FCPL.

The company, however, claimed that it made all required disclosures and committed no violation. Thereafter, the e-commerce giant had challenged the NCLAT verdict before the Apex Court.

Amazon had opposed Future Retail's deal to sell assets to Reliance Retail based on its 2019 acquisition of FCPL stake. Future Retail and Reliance Retail deal of Rs. 24,713 crores eventually were called off in April.

The Future Group and Amazon have been tangled in Courts since October 2020. It started when Singapore’s Emergency Arbitrator ordered FRL which restrained it from going ahead with its deal with Reliance Retail.