The National Firm Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday dismissed Amazon’s appeal against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) decision to delay clearance of the e-commerce giant’s investment transaction with a Future Group company.
The NCLAT also upheld the fair trade regulator’s Rs 200 crore penalty against Amazon. Amazon has been given 45 days to pay the penalty by the NCLAT. Under the Competition Act of 2002, the regulator fined Amazon for failing to disclose important information on combinations.
The action stems from a deal struck between Amazon and Future Group in 2019. As part of the arrangement, Amazon agreed to buy a 49 percent stake in Future Group’s Future Coupons Private Limited. After Amazon objected to Future Retail Ltd’s deal to transfer assets to Reliance Retail Limited, the dispute was taken to the courts and authorities.
Big Bazaar is run by Future Retail Ltd., a publicly traded firm. Future Retail is a subsidiary of the Future Group. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) applauded the NCLAT’s decision to maintain the CCI’s Rs 200 crore penalty against Amazon.
The NCLAT decision is a vindication of CAIT’s position, which has consistently highlighted Amazon’s brazen anti-competitive practises and violations of the law, including its deep-discounting practises, B2C e-commerce, made its entry into the retail trading industry through the purchases of More Retail Ltd and Future Retail Ltd, according to a statement from CAIT.
The NCLAT issued its decision in various appeals filed by Amazon, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), and others against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order dated December 17, 2021, in which the CCI found that Amazon had made false representations, misstatements, and suppressed material information in seeking approval of the combination for its investment in Future Retail Ltd. (FRL).
Amazon was also fined over Rs. 200 crore under the CCI order. In its decision, the NCLAT found that Amazon had withheld information about the combination and had not revealed all of the material details.
