ED launches probe into Amazon, Flipkart sellers for FEMA violations

Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches against some sellers who do business on e-commerce giants like Amazon , Flipkart as part of a FEMA investigation, official sources said. Multiple locations in Delhi, Gurugram ( Haryana ), Hyderab (Telangana) and Bengaluru (Karnataka) are being searched, sources said.

y said action is related to financial transactions being done by some of "preferred" vendors and sellers who do business through Amazon and Flipkart like e-commerce platforms. probe is being conducted under Foreign Exchange Manment Act (FEMA), y said.

“ raids on sellers of Amazon and Flipkart is a part of ED's probe…for alleged violations of foreign exchange laws,” a government source with direct kwledge told Reuters.

raids take place weeks after Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, both of which have seen ir business thrive – especially during festival season between September and vember, were found violating anti-competitive rules by Competition Commission of India (CCI), which also accused of smartphone brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, and Motorola of colluding with e-commerce companies by forging exclusive deals for sale of ir smartphones.

After a lengthy investigation, CCI documents findings on how both e-commerce companies gave preference to select sellers on its platform and prioritised ir listings across categories – a move that undermined visibility of or smaller sellers. Soon after report was submitted to government, Vivo and online sellers challenged ir name in report, while Flipkart and Amazon called allegations baseless.

Earlier this week, CCI h to recall its investigation report into law breaches after Xiaomi complained that document contained commercial secrets that should have been redacted before presentation. Previously, Apple also objected to presence of confidential business strategies mentioned in report, causing CCI to revoke report back in August.

Written with inputs from ncies