2024-12-12 23:17:40 :
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) will on Friday hear a plea seeking consolidation of two dozen writ petitions filed by current and former online sellers of Amazon and Flipkart e-commerce platforms. Different high courts may result in conflicting decisions.
The Supreme Court listed the CCI’s plea seeking merger of writ petitions filed in different high courts by companies such as Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd., Appario Retail Pvt Ltd and Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd are undergoing a hearing before Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal, court documents show.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani represented the CCI.
Sellers question CCI probe
Two dozen online sellers on the two e-commerce platforms have filed writ petitions in various high courts challenging the CCI’s antitrust probe against the e-commerce giants, which was later expanded to include sellers as well. The Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Madras high courts have granted stay on CCI’s proceedings in favor of the companies.
An early decision to consolidate all 24 cases filed by these companies could help the CCI break the litigation deadlock and try to wrap up the cases promptly.
The CCI argued that the numerous writs filed by the seller were intended to curtail its investigative powers. However, four years ago, when the CCI started investigating Amazon and Flipkart for alleged anti-competitive practices, the sellers claimed to be identified as “third parties”, whose identities were removed in the CCI’s July 2024 order as per the Director General’s investigation. Change to “other party”. There will be no prior notice or hearing.
Inquiries emailed to CCI, Amazon, Flipkart, Cloudtail India, Appario Retail and Samsung India Electronics on Thursday seeking comment for this article remained unanswered by the time of publication.
Corporate governance research and consultancy firm InGovern Research Services Pvt. Ltd on Friday said in a letter to Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Corporate Affairs Ministry Secretary Deepti Gaur Mukerjee that the CCI’s conduct “is not only It has eroded the brand value of these third-party sellers, and also damaged the brand value of these third-party sellers.” It also deprived them of their right to commit. “
The company said that under competition law, once a seller becomes aware that it is a potential defendant after an investigation order is issued, it has the right to undertake to the CCI not to engage in any activities that may harm competition. “Sellers were not informed of their potential liability and were denied the opportunity to present their case or exercise their rights as potential defendants,” InGovern Research said.
The CCI argued that the two dozen writ petitions filed by the companies in the High Court were indirectly aimed at curtailing the regulator’s investigative powers, Mint Reported on December 8.
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