Competition Commission to expedite investigation against Amazon, Flipkart

New Delhi, June 15

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India’s anti-trust watchdog plans to expedite a restarted probe into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour at Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart, as it intensifies scrutiny of big-tech firms, two people close to the matter said. The comments come as major US technology firms, including Twitter and Facebook are at loggerheads with the government over issues such as data privacy bills and policies some industry executives have called protectionist.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) initiated a probe in January last year on the basis of a complaint alleging Amazon and Flipkart promoted select sellers on their e-commerce platforms and that deep discounts stifled competition. The companies have denied wrongdoing.

Near-immediate legal challenges from the pair stalled the probe for over a year until a court last week allowed it to resume, having dismissed arguments that the CCI lacked evidence. — PTI