Supreme Court Transfers CCI Investigation Case of Amazon, Flipkart to Karnataka High Court

The Supreme Court has transferred the petitions challenging the Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation against e-commerce companies Amazon and Flipkart to the Karnataka High Court. In these petitions, CCI’s investigation into the allegedly anti-competition business practices of Amazon and Flipkart was challenged.

The Supreme Court has directed the Karnataka High Court to hear this case soon. These e-commerce companies and CCI had agreed to transfer the case to the Karnataka High Court for hearing. Last month, CCI had requested the Supreme Court to quickly hear the petitions challenging the investigation of these companies. CCI had said that the challenges to the investigation given by Samsung, Vivo and some other companies are aimed at suppressing this investigation.

In a filing in the Supreme Court by CCI, it was said that the challenges filed in various High Courts by Samsung, Vivo and some other vendors on the platforms of Amazon, Flipkart and these e-commerce companies should be heard, so that A decision can be taken soon in this matter.

The e-commerce market in the country is expected to grow to more than $160 billion by 2028. This is a big regulatory challenge for Amazon and Flipkart. The scope of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation against Amazon and Flipkart has also increased due to violations of laws related to foreign investment. These companies say that they follow the laws of the country. However, for the last few years, ED has been investigating the allegations against these companies. These companies are accused of controlling the inventory of goods through selected sellers. Under the country’s law, foreign e-commerce companies cannot hold inventory of products sold through their websites and can only act as a marketplace for sellers. Recently ED had raided some sellers of Amazon and Flipkart. A government source having information about this had said that the documents seized in the ED raids have proved that these companies have violated the law related to foreign investment.