Online sellers association files antitrust complaint against Amazon
An online sellers association representing over 2000 sellers across e-commerce platforms has approached the Competition Commission of India with an antitrust complaint against Amazon for favouring select sellers on its platform.
The All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) has named Amazon Sellers Services, Amazon Wholesale India, Amazon Retail India, Cloudtail India, and Prione Business Services in its filing.
The sellers’ body further alleged that Amazon Wholesale buys goods worth hundreds of crores in bulk quantities at a lesser price from the manufacturers and further sells at a loss to its own seller Amazon Retail and Cloudtail India. These sellers further sell it on their own marketplace Amazon.in with a massive discount to consumers.
On the other hand, most sellers selling similar categories of goods like Amazon Retail and Cloudtail India, are unable to sell at a loss price as no investor is willing to invest in a loss-making business.
Deep discounts and lack of platform neutrality on the marketplace is driving existing competitors out of its marketplace and creating barriers to new entrants in the marketplace resulting in the foreclosure of competition, said AIOVA in the complaint.
Responding to the press query on the matter, an Amazon spokesperson said, “Amazon. in is a pure 3P marketplace. Sellers on Amazon. in have the absolute discretion to decide what products to sell and their prices. Amazon is compliant with all relevant laws of the land and operates the marketplace with a high degree of transparency and uniformity.”
As per AIOVA, Amazon has been exploiting this adversity by facilitating sales of essential commodities sold by its own sellers by disallowing other players. Further, the filing mentioned that the e-commerce firm charges lower fees to selected sellers. For instance, Cloudtail pays a fee of 6.3% for electronic products, while independent sellers have to pay around 28.1%.
In an email statement, Cloudtail said it was in “compliance with all applicable laws in its operations.
In the past couple of years, sellers and traders’ bodies have repeatedly raised concerns over malpractices by e-commerce marketplaces. While the latest case filed by AIOVA raises serious allegations on Amazon, CCI’s decision on the matter will make it more clear for sellers.
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