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ADIF, CAIT condemn Amazon's 'predatory' practices to kill Indian brands
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SME Times News Bureau | 14 Oct, 2021
The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) and the Confederation
of All India Traders (CAIT) on Thursday condemned Amazon's "predatory
playbook" of allegedly copying, rigging and killing Indian brands,
urging the Centre for timely intervention.
On Wednesday, a
Reuters report revealed that Amazon team in India "secretly exploited
internal data from Amazon.in to copy products sold by other companies,
and then offered them on its platform", and also "rigged Amazon's
search results" so that the company's products would appear on top.
Sijo
Kuruvilla George, Executive Director, ADIF, said in a statement that it
brings to light Amazon's blatant disregard for competition laws,
intellectual property rights and disgraceful predatory practices.
"The
manner in which the e-commerce giant has targeted the Indian market and
leading brands in the country is highly deplorable and brings into
question the credibility of Amazon as a good faith operator in the
Indian startup ecosystem," George said.
The report alleged that
among the victims of Amazon's anti-market practices was a popular shirt
brand in India called John Miller that is owned by Kishore
Biyani-founded Future Group, currently embroiled in a legal battle with
Amazon.
CAIT National President B.C. Bhartia and Secretary
General Praveen Khandelwal said in a statement that copying the products
and rigging the search has an "ulterior design to kill the domestic
small manufacturers and traders in the country, directly contravening
'Atmanirbhar Bharat' vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
They
demanded an immediate CBI investigation into the charges made in the
report, and an earlier story that brought to the fore alleged bribery to
the government officials through the legal counsels by Amazon.
Bhartia
and Khandelwal said that a CAIT delegation will soon meet Home Minister
Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and press for its demand
for an immediate CBI enquiry and other necessary actions by the
government.
"Meanwhile, the CAIT is also convening a meeting of
its national board comprising of prominent trade leaders of all states
to decide future course of action on this issue," the statement said.
Amazon
has been at the centre of controversy in India after recent reports of
bribery charges against its legal representatives and associated legal
firms in the country.
The company is also facing an inquiry by
the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over alleged anti-competitive
practices and a parallel inquiry by Enforcement Directorate for
violation of domestic laws.
The Directorate General of Goods and
Service Tax Intelligence (DGGI) has also issued a show-cause notice to
one of its subsidiaries, Cloudtail, for evasion of GST and indirect
taxes.
Amazon has also legally challenged Future Group's deal
with Reliance Retail to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics, and
warehouse businesses to Reliance Retail Ventures.
ADIF's George
said that the new findings go on to validate the allegations and fears
of various stakeholders and serve as incriminating evidence.
"It's
worth noting that Amazon has on multiple occasions, including during
formal hearings, denied any wrongdoing that involves making use of
consumer data to drive advantage for its own brands and products," he
noted.
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