New Delhi, Nov 7: In a major crackdown on e-commerce and online shopping giants Amazon and Flipkart, the Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Thursday conducted raids on a number of establishments of the companies.
Raids are underway in at least 15 locations in different cities where the Flipkart and Amazon have got major hubs and depots.
The Multiple cities include Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Bengaluru where search operation by the Central agency was conducted under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), said reports.
Based on the probe and the antitrust reports submitted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which raised red flags about Amazon and Flipkart’s unfair business practices, the ED scanned the stores associated with the two major e-commerce companies to rule out violation of the FEMA.
The CCI had studied that the two firms allegedly violated local competition laws by favouring specific sellers, prioritising their product listings and offering steep discounts, that incurs loss to other vendors.
The unfair practice favouring preferred vendors could harm competition and undermine fair business environment for smaller sellers on these platforms, the CCI had mentioned in its findings.
ED has been investigating the e-commerce giants for allegedly bypassing foreign investment laws that regulate multi-brand retail and restrict such companies to operating a marketplace for the petty sellers.
The Amazon and Flipkart were under the ED’s close scanner earlier also.
