Three sellers on Flipkart, a Walmart-owned e-commerce platform, have filed a lawsuit against the Competition Commission of India (CCI), challenging an antitrust investigation that implicated them along with Flipkart and Amazon in violating India’s competition laws.
According to Reuters, the vendors—CIGFIL Retail, Wishery Online, and Xonique Ventures—have approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to halt the CCI’s probe and dismiss its findings.
The sellers claim that they were initially asked to submit data to assist in the investigation but were later accused of violations themselves, which they argue violates due process. They describe the investigation as “arbitrary, opaque, and unfair” in separate court submissions.
The CCI’s investigation, which concluded in August, found that Amazon, Flipkart, and certain sellers had given undue preference to select online sellers and specific smartphone brands. This alleged practice of prioritizing certain listings raised concerns over unfair competition.
The initial investigation was prompted by complaints from brick-and-mortar retailers under the Confederation of All India Traders, who argued that these e-commerce giants were harming their businesses.
The legal action by the Flipkart sellers comes after a former Amazon seller also sued the CCI, successfully obtaining an interim injunction to temporarily block the investigation.
The lawsuits filed by these sellers may cause further delays in the investigation process, which has been ongoing since 2020. The outcome could have significant implications for the e-commerce sector in India, especially in terms of competition and regulatory oversight.
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