India’s top court greenlights antitrust investigation against Amazon & Flipkart

India’s Supreme Court has ruled that the antimonopoly probe into the business practices of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart should continue, rejecting the e-commerce giants’ pleas to stop the inquiry.

“We expect organizations like Amazon and Flipkart, big organizations, they have to volunteer for inquiry and transparency. We expect that and you don’t even want (an) inquiry. You have to submit and (an) inquiry has to be conducted,” Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, who headed a three-judge panel, said.

The ruling comes as another regulatory setback for the online retailers working in the world’s biggest consumer market that is open to foreign corporations. Last month, the High Court in the southern state of Karnataka dismissed the petition challenging the probe into anti-competitive practices by the two US tech firms.

The inquiry launched by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) last year was initiated after allegations from a group of local retailers that the online retail giants promoted select sellers on their platforms and offered deep discounts that stifled competition. Both Amazon and Flipkart have rejected the allegations, stating that they have done nothing wrong.

The case of Amazon and Flipkart comes as part of New Delhi’s latest plan to tighten regulations for online retailers. Indian authorities aim to crack down on corporations that circumvent the country’s laws by creating complex business structures, killing small local enterprises along the way.

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