[ By Bobby Anthony ]Flipkart has filed a legal challenge against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation into alleged violations of competition law and certain discounting practices.The development has come after a similar petition by its Flipkart’s Amazon which has been stayed by the Karnataka High Court recently.In its February 18 filing in a Bangalore city court, Flipkart...
Flipkart has filed a legal challenge against a Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation into alleged violations of competition law and certain discounting practices.
The development has come after a similar petition by its Flipkart’s Amazon which has been stayed by the Karnataka High Court recently.
In its February 18 filing in a Bangalore city court, Flipkart has argued that the CCI had ordered its investigation without any initial evidence that its practices harmed its competition.
Flipkart has argued that the CCI order was “perverse (and) passed without any application of mind”.
The Flipkart filing stated that the CCI order affected not only its credibility and reputation, but also its commercial prospects, and urged the court to quash the probe.
Incidentally, both Amazon and Flipkart have been criticized by Indian retailers of violating local laws by racking up billions of dollars of losses in order to fund deep discounts, besides discrimination against small sellers.
The CCI probe was ordered after a New Delhi-based traders’ body called the Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh complained that the e-commerce giants promote select sellers and in turn hurt business for other smaller players.