India’s monetary crime company has privately sought gross sales information and different paperwork from smartphone gamers together with Apple and Xiaomi as a part of an investigation into Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, sources accustomed to the matter advised Reuters.
The company’s queries come within the backdrop of India and america nearing a commerce deal. The protectionist e-commerce laws in India have been a part of these discussions, in response to one Indian official, as US authorities have lengthy known as for opening up the sector.
India’s Enforcement Directorate company, which probes financial crimes, has been investigating Amazon and Flipkart for years for allegedly breaching legal guidelines by stocking and exerting management over items they record on-line. Indian legal guidelines prohibit international e-commerce corporations from doing in order the platforms can solely function a market to attach patrons and sellers.
India’s small merchants say such clandestine practices, together with steep on-line reductions, have disrupted companies at cell phone shops, however Amazon and Flipkart have maintained they adjust to all Indian legal guidelines.
The directorate wrote in current weeks to smartphone corporations, together with Apple and Xiaomi, to get information associated to their on-line gross sales, in response to three trade sources and one senior Indian authorities official, who all declined to be named because the investigation course of is confidential.
One of many trade sources mentioned the Enforcement Directorate was taking a look at dealings between smartphone corporations and Amazon and Flipkart, and had additionally sought any monetary contracts signed by the cellphone makers for on-line gross sales.
Apple acquired the company’s directive in March, mentioned one of many sources.
Apple, Amazon and Flipkart didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The Enforcement Directorate additionally didn’t reply, whereas Xiaomi declined to remark.
India’s e-retail market is ready to exceed $160 billion (roughly Rs. 13,62,590 crore) by 2028, up from $57-$60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,85,459 crore – Rs. 5,11,010 crore) in 2023, consultancy agency Bain estimates.
The federal government official mentioned the smartphone corporations had been approached by the directorate solely to hunt data and it was unlikely they are going to be accused within the case, though “the investigation goes.”
“Finally if there’s wrongdoing, there might be financial penalties (on e-commerce corporations),” mentioned the official.
Final yr, a separate Indian antitrust investigation concluded Amazon and Flipkart breached antitrust legal guidelines by giving choice to pick out sellers on their platforms, and in addition colluded with Samsung, Xiaomi and different smartphone corporations to completely launch merchandise on-line.
The businesses haven’t commented on the report and the antitrust case remains to be ongoing.
Counterpoint Analysis information reveals that Samsung and Xiaomi collectively held an nearly 33 p.c share of the Indian market in 2024, with Apple at seven p.c. Round 40 p.c of cellphone gross sales in India are on-line.
A Reuters investigation in 2021, primarily based on inside Amazon papers, confirmed the corporate exerted vital management over the stock of a few of the largest sellers. The corporate denied wrongdoing.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)