- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has accused e-commerce giant Amazon of concealing facts and making false submissions at the time of seeking approval for a 2019 investment in a Future Group unit, Reuters reported after seeing a letter written to the US firm.
The letter speaks about Amazon’s legal battle with Future Group over the latter’s decision to sell its retail assets to Reliance Industries, a matter which is now before the Supreme Court of India.
According to Amazon, the terms agreed upon in its 2019 deal to pay $192 million for a 49 per cent stake in Future’s gift voucher unit stop the Kishore Biyani-founded company from selling its Future Retail Ltd business to Reliance.
But the CCI said in its letter dated June 4 that Amazon did not reveal factual aspects of the transaction, hiding its strategic interest in Future Retail at the time of seeking approval for the two-year-old deal.
“The representations and conduct of Amazon before the Commission amounts to misrepresentation, making false statement and suppression or/and concealment of material facts,” the letter said.
It also said a complaint from Future Group prompted its review of the submissions made.
In the letter, the CCI also asked the e-commerce giant why it should not take action and impose a penalty on the company for giving false information.
In a statement to Reuters, Amazon said it had received a letter and was committed to complying with India’s laws and would cooperate fully with the CCI.
“We are confident that we will be able to address the CCI’s concerns,” it said, according to Reuters.
