Flipkart, Amazon reject CAIT charges on policy violations

17 Oct '19

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Amazon and Flipkart rejected allegations of predatory pricing, deep discounting, controlling inventory, exclusivity and violation of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy levelled by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) at a recent meeting of representatives of both companies and CAIT and the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT).

As the October 11 meeting in New Delhi, which followed a similar meeting the previous day, could not arrive at a conclusion on the contentious issues, CAIT is planning to once again approach commerce minister Piyush Goyal and ask for an independent audit of Amazon and Flipkart's business models.

DPIIT additional secretary Shailendra Singh, CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal, Flipkart chief operating officer Rajneesh Kumar and Amazon India Marketplace vice president Gopal Pillai were part of the meeting, according to Indian media reports.

CAIT is also planning to write to all big brands and ask them to clarify their position on the claims of Amazon and Flipkart that brands listed on their platforms have been offering discounts and the platforms are not influencing prices.

"If need be, the CAIT will not hesitate to approach Competition Commission of India or route of court to make brands clarify their position. Whoever is giving deep discount must be flouting one or the other law or policy and CAIT will seek action against them," CAIT said in a statement.

Among the other issues raised by CAIT are offline traders selling their goods through their own online portals or websites, and some of the online products not being available with them offline. CAIT has said this practice is anti-competitive and unethical under the FDI policy.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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