Giant Amazon is caught up in antitrust storm again......

Recently, the American e-commerce giant Amazon has once again been caught up in an antitrust storm.

Foreign media reported that India's antitrust investigation found that Amazon and Flipkart gave priority to certain sellers on their shopping websites, violating local competition laws.

The investigation was sparked by a complaint from the Delhi Free Trade Union, an affiliate of the Confederation of Indian Traders (CAIT), which represents 80 million retailers.

In fact, over the years, Indian regulators have never relaxed their supervision of Amazon and Flipkart.

As early as 2020, the Competition Commission of India ( CCI) ordered an antitrust investigation into the two companies, accusing them of promoting certain sellers with whom they had business dealings and giving priority to product links of such sellers.

Amazon and Flipkart have denied the allegations and said their practices were in compliance with Indian law.

However, after an investigation, the regulator issued a 1,027-page report on Amazon and a 1,696-page report on Flipkart , which showed that the two companies created a unique system to allow preferred sellers to rank higher in search results, thereby increasing their exposure and squeezing out other competing sellers.

The report also came to the same conclusion about both companies , that ordinary sellers were forced to become "database entries" and had little chance to compete with sellers who received "special treatment."

Furthermore, both reports stated that "each of the anticompetitive practices alleged ... was investigated and substantiated. "

Amazon and Flipkart have not yet responded to the investigation. However , if the two companies do not review the report and raise objections in time before the CCI staff makes a decision , they will face high fines or other penalties later.

It is worth mentioning that in June last year, Xiaomi was fined 4.8 billion yuan for allegedly violating India's antitrust laws . Whether Amazon and Flipkart will become the next "Xiaomi" remains to be seen.

In addition to violating competition laws, industry insiders also pointed out that Amazon and Flipkart's business practices in India have been criticized by local small retailers because the two companies offer deep discounts, which has affected their business in recent years .

In fact, Amazon has been accused or sued not only in India, but also in many countries in recent months.

In August, the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeal accused Amazon of restricting the freedom of its suppliers and third-party sellers to set prices, which stifled market competition and increased consumer costs. In June, Amazon was sued by 200,000 British sellers for unfair competition and was asked to pay 2.7 billion pounds in compensation.

As an e-commerce giant, Amazon's various actions affect the interests of countless sellers and consumers. In the future, as countries improve their policies and strengthen their efforts to combat "illegal monopoly", such business strategies may continue to be strictly investigated. Therefore, major cross-border e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, must put legality and compliance first.