Three online retailers operating on Walmart-owned Flipkart have sued India’s antitrust watchdog over an investigation that found they, Flipkart and rival Amazon violated competition laws, according to court filings seen by Reuters.

The requests come after antitrust investigations concluded in August found that Amazon and Flipkart, some of their sellers and smartphone brands, violated local competition laws by giving an undue advantage to the selection of online sellers and favoring certain ads, Reuters reported.

Flipkart is one of India’s largest e-commerce players and a competitor to Amazon.

In a bid to overturn the critical proceedings, three sellers on the platform have filed petitions in the Karnataka High Court to “set aside” the probe report and put the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) proceedings on hold.

The lawsuits by sellers Amazon and Flipkart could potentially delay the investigation process that first began in 2020 and was launched after brick-and-mortar retailers from the Confederation of Indian Retailers complained to the watchdog. Amazon and Flipkart deny any wrongdoing.

Three Flipkart sellers – CIGFIL Retail, Wishery Online, Xonique Ventures – allege in their lawsuits that they were subpoenaed to hand over information to help officials during the investigation, but were later named as defendants in violation of due process, court documents show.

“The purported investigation … is arbitrary, opaque, unfair,” the sellers argued in three separate court filings, likely to be heard next week.

Flipkart and CCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately reach the three sellers, whose filings were made public for the first time.

Last week, a former Amazon seller also sued the CCI and won a temporary injunction to prevent the investigation. His court filing – seen by Reuters – claims the CCI did not give notice before naming him an accused in the case.

© Thomson Reuters 2024