Indonesian Shopee accused of antitrust behavior in delivery services

UPDATE 1 – Shopee from Indonesia accused of antitrust behavior in the field of delivery services

Reassignment of the Indonesian Antitrust Agency from the news service in Sec. 1–3

JAKARTA, May 28 (Reuters) –Indonesia’s antitrust agency on Tuesday accused the local unit of e-commerce platform Shopee of violating anti-competition laws by persuading customers to use certain delivery services, the agency said in a statement.

The agency, known as KPPU, found that Shopee stopped listing several delivery service providers it previously used, leaving customers to choose from two companies – one of which has a Shopee Indonesia executive on its board – investigators say.

As the agency added, a hearing in this case was held on Tuesday.

This week, the KPPU said yes test local units of Shopee, owned by Southeast Asian tech company Sea Ltd DREAM and PT Ecart Webportal Indonesia, which operates Lazada, Alibaba’s southeastern subsidiary 9988.HKbut he didn’t elaborate.

A Shopee representative said the company complied with KPPU’s request to participate in the hearing, but did not comment directly on the allegations. She added that the company is committed to complying with the laws in force in Indonesia.

Shopee, a market leader in Indonesia’s fast-growing e-commerce sector, is scheduled to present its defense at a hearing next month.

Lazada did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Reports by Ananda Teresia; Editing: Edwina Gibbs and Mark Potter