Karnataka High Court to hear CCI's plea to vacate stay on Flipkart, Amazon investigation in January

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 10, 2020

On Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court posted January 18, 2021 as the final date for hearing the Competition Commission of India's plea to vacate the stay on an investigation into Flipkart and Amazon.

 
A single judge bench at the Karnataka High Court heard the case on December 9, in response to a request from the Supreme Court on October 26, which instructed it to make a decision on the CCI’s plea within six weeks, ET Tech reported. The CCI is trying to vacate the stay on an investigation into U.S.-owned e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive business practices.
 
The CCI planned to investigate both Amazon and Flipkart for alleged anticompetitive activities using information provided by trader’s group Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh and the Confederation of All India Traders.

Back in February, both Amazon and Flipkart filed petitions against the CCI’s investigation order, which the Karnataka High Court heard and decided to grant the interim stay on February 14, preventing the CCI from carrying out its investigation for the time being. 
 
In January, the Karnataka High Court will decide whether or not to vacate the stay and, therefore, whether or not the CCI will be able to investigate Amazon and Flipkart. Numerous traders bodies, especially CAIT, have called for investigations into Amazon and Flipkart’s business practices in India as foreign-owned businesses. Both businesses, however, maintain that they follow all local regulations.