The All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA), a trade union representing online sellers, has filed an antitrust suit against Amazon India, alleging preferential treatment to some sellers, and predatory pricing, Reuters reported. The case has been filed with the Competition Commission of India, which as per Reuters will review the case in the coming weeks. An AIOVA spokesperson confirmed the antitrust lawsuit to MediaNama, and we have reached out the group's lawyer for more details. According to AIOVA's legal filing, which Reuters reviewed, the body alleged that Amazon India buys goods in bulk from manufacturers and then sells them at a loss to sellers such as Cloudtail, who then offer the same goods on Amazon.in at heavily discounted prices. “This anti-competitive arrangement ... is causing foreclosure of competition by driving independent sellers out of the market,” AIOVA said in its lawsuit, which per Reuters, was filed on August 10. When contacted, Amazon India gave the following statement to MediaNama: "Amazon.in is a pure 3P marketplace. Sellers on Amazon.in have the absolute discretion to decide what products to sell and their prices. Amazon is compliant to all relevant laws of the land and operates the marketplace with high degree of transparency and uniformity. AWIPL operates a B2B marketplace (amazondistribution.in) where 3.5 lakhs of small and medium offline sellers buy different category of products for resale to customers or for institutional consumption. Any B2B seller can register and purchase from Amazon distribution." — Amazon India The organisation's lawsuit reportedly includes screenshots of…
