CCI Appeals to Supreme Court for Consolidation of Cases Against Amazon and Flipkart to Accelerate Antitrust Investigation
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New Delhi, Dec 7 (NationPress) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has appealed to the Supreme Court to merge all ongoing cases against the e-commerce leaders Amazon and Flipkart to hasten the antitrust investigation.
In its petition, the nation’s competition authority sought to unify multiple proceedings initiated by at least 20 e-tailers associated with Amazon and Flipkart in various high courts, asserting that these actions are attempts to “impede the investigation” into the two e-commerce behemoths.
The issue at hand is linked to a 2019 antitrust inquiry against Amazon and Flipkart for allegedly providing preferential treatment to certain e-tailers, including Cloudtail India Pvt, Samsung India Electronics Pvt, Vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd, and Appario Retail Pvt, as per reports.
The CCI stated before the apex court that these disparate proceedings initiated in various high courts aim to 'delay' the ongoing actions before the regulatory body.
The cases lodged in different high courts represent an “effort to obstruct” the established investigation protocols outlined in the Act, and if permitted to persist, could lead to “nonsensical outcomes.”
It has been claimed that these legal actions aim to limit CCI's investigation to only those entities identified by the regulator for the inquiry.
The competition authority emphasized that the writ petitions filed by e-tailers are founded on completely misunderstood legal principles, thus causing severe harm to the regulator, “as its inquiry has been stalled, adversely impacting the public and the overall e-commerce sector,” the petition states.
The commission has asserted that all points raised in various high courts could and should be addressed directly before the commission itself. It has been argued that the non-confidential version of the investigation report has been shared with the involved parties, who can contest any aspect they find necessary.
No comments have been made by Amazon and Flipkart as of yet.
The petition requests that these matters, which are currently under consideration in six different high courts nationwide, be consolidated and presented either to the Supreme Court or the Delhi High Court.
