The company contends that the CCI’s antitrust investigation against Amazon was flawed and that the CCI exceeded its authority.
Appario, the former biggest seller on Amazon India, has filed a legal challenge against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over an antitrust investigation that found the e-commerce giant and several of local competition laws.
In its petition, the former top seller has urged the Karnataka High Court (HC) to set aside the internal antitrust report that details how Amazon India reportedly flouted competition laws by prioritising certain sellers and listings. Appario is named in the antitrust report by the competition watchdog.
The lawsuit marks the first legal challenge to the CCI investigation that started in 2020, and poses a major challenge to Amazon in India, a key market.
Appario also said in the suit that a CCI order that asked it to submit its financial statements after the investigation was completed should be quashed, according to the court's records.
Amazon maintained it does not give preferential treatment to any seller and complies with all laws, but said in October 2022 that Appario will within a year cease to list products on its website.
The Reuters investigation had found that Appario was internally referred to as a "special" merchant and received discounted fees and access to Amazon global retail tools used for things like inventory management.
In 2022, the CCI raided Appario and some other sellers as part of its investigations.
Source: Reuters
