CCI Urges Supreme Court To Combine Cases Against Amazon And Flipkart To Advance Antitrust Probe

CCI Urges Supreme Court To Combine Cases Against Amazon And Flipkart To Advance Antitrust Probe

States that the inquiry was halted, and it was affecting the public and the e-commerce sector

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has urged the Supreme Court to consolidate all cases against Amazon and Flipkart in India to expedite the antitrust probe.

The competition watchdog petitioned to merge multiple proceedings filed by 20 e-tailers of the e-commerce giants at various high courts.

It added that there were "attempts to scuttle the well-established procedure of investigation laid down under the (Competition) Act.”

In 2019, an antitrust probe was held against Amazon and Flipkart for giving preferential treatment to some e-tailers, including Cloudtail India Pvt, Samsung India Electronics Pvt, Vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd and Appario Retail Pvt.

The competition watchdog alleged that the cases were filed to restrict CCI's investigation only against the parties identified by the regulator. It pointed out that the e-tailers’ writs were misconceived, resulting in prejudice to the regulator.

It added, “The inquiry has been halted, affecting the public and the e-commerce sector.”

The CCI stated that all arguments before various high courts could be raised even before the Commission, as the non-confidential version of the investigation report was shared with the parties, which could raise objections.

The plea sought that the matters being heard by six different high courts across the country, be combined and heard by the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court.