Factbox – What is India’s antitrust record on Amazon and Flipkart?

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian antitrust investigations have found that Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart violated local competition laws by giving preference to certain sellers, prioritizing certain deals and giving deep discounts on products, which hurt other companies.

Below are the key findings of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), detailed in two non-public reports but reviewed by Reuters.

Amazon, Flipkart and CCI did not respond to requests for comment on the reports.

* PREFERRED SELLERS: Amazon had six preferred sellers, while Flipkart had 33, who got preferential treatment on its platforms, violating antitrust laws. Sellers got marketing, warehousing and other services at a “minimal price.”

CCI also said that Amazon and Flipkart have leveraged their overseas investments to offer such subsidised rates.

As per CCI, both Amazon and Flipkart had an ecosystem “in which no seller other than the preferred one could survive”.

*PREFERENCE LISTS: The CCI found that most of the products appearing at the top of Amazon and Flipkart’s lists were from supposedly preferred sellers. This created a barrier for other sellers, the CCI said.

* EXCLUSIVE PRODUCT LAUNCHES: Both Amazon and Flipkart have partnered with smartphone and technology companies to launch their devices exclusively. This has been a disadvantage for smaller retailers.

“The exclusive launches have severely impacted not only the regular sellers on the platform but also the retailers who received the mobile phones much later,” the CCI reports.

* HEAVY DISCOUNTS: As per CCI reports, both Amazon and Flipkart allowed their affiliated and preferred sellers to offer heavy discounts, which involved selling well below cost in order to eliminate the competition.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Mark Potter)