Last Updated on 19/07/2021 by Sanskriti
Flipkart, a subsidiary of Walmart (WMT.N), claimed in a court document, that it should not be handled the same as Amazon (AMZN.O) in an Indian antitrust investigation because the evidence against the two companies was “qualitatively different.”.
Amazon and Flipkart have filed lawsuits against the Competition Commission of India (CCI), requesting that an Indian court overturn a June ruling allowing an antitrust investigation against them to proceed. Any misconduct on the part of the corporations is denied. The Indian government has branded the American corporations arrogant and accused them of stalling the probe through legal means.
“confuse the facts” between Amazon and Flipkart’s cases, ignoring the reality that they were “fierce competitors.” The Walmart business claimed in its last filings to a court in Karnataka, India’s southernmost state, that CCI and the court were wrong.
It backed up its claims by claiming that a business agreement evaluated by the CCI prior to ordering its investigation was exclusively between Amazon and its merchants and that there was no evidence against the Walmart division.
“The allegations and the evidence before the CCI against the Appellant were qualitatively different from those relating to Amazon … The CCI should have independently examined the case against each of the two platforms,” Flipkart said in its 46-page submission, which was not public.
In the following days, the Indian court is expected to issue a written decision on the appeals.
A request for comment from Flipkart and Amazon was not immediately returned. On Sunday, the CCI did not reply outside of usual work hours.
For years, brick-and-mortar merchants have accused Amazon and Flipkart of skirting Indian law by forming complicated corporate structures.
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal slammed US e-commerce last month for pursuing legal challenges and failing to cooperate with the CCI’s investigation.
