CCI dismisses complaint against Shopee and Amazon

According to foreign media reports, India's competition regulator has dismissed complaints against two e-commerce companies, Shopee and Amazon . Previously , Singapore-based Shopee had faced allegations that it operated in a similar manner to e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart and was committed to "deep discounts" , while the complaint against Amazon was that the US-based company and its affiliates were engaging in unfair trade practices on the platform .

The CCI said Shopee did not have "significant market power" as it was launched in November 2021 amidst a number of existing players , including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa .

"The Commission further noted that despite the allegations that Shopee is following similar discounting practices as alleged by Amazon and Flipkart, the recent Shopee order, in the Commission's view, shows that Shopee does not have significant market power at this stage, let alone a dominant position, more so as it is a new entrant in a market with established players." As for Amazon, the CCI said the allegations "lack admissible and necessary evidence ."

The two individuals the CCI received complaints against Shopee are Praveen Khadelwal and Vaibhav Mishra. Khandelwal is the president of traders lobby group Confederation of Indian Traders, while Mishra is described as an e-commerce consumer.

Both the complainants alleged that Shopee was offering deep discounts on various products by selling them at extremely low prices on its portal.

Shopee entered India last year and processes more than 100,000 orders a day, according to the complainants. “Such predatory pricing strategies are aimed at affecting traditional and small businesses in India,” said one of the complainants .

Mishra provided certain screenshots, claiming that certain products such as kurtis, mugs, wallets were being sold at lower prices . He said that Shopee is currently selling products below cost in order to drive competitors out of the market, and will subsequently recoup the losses and start charging monopoly prices. Shopee did not respond to ET's queries , while Amazon declined to comment.

Shopee

Amazon