Amazon’s Jeff Bezos faces protests, antitrust probe in India

Bezos’ trip comes amid a probe on whether Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart are killing off local Indian sellers on their e-commerce platforms

The Confederation of All India Traders, which says it represents 70 million small businesses, vowed ‘strong protests’ against Bezos in 300 cities

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Traders in New Delhi demand the closure of e-shopping platforms Amazon and Flipkart on January 15, 2020. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 15 Jan 2020Updated: 10:32am, 16 Jan 2020

Angry street traders in India on Wednesday vowed to stage protests against Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who is visiting the country amid an antitrust investigation by local authorities into e-commerce giants.

Bezos, whose worth has been estimated at more than US$110 billion, is in India for a meeting of business leaders in New Delhi.

The Competition Commission of India announced on Monday that it was investigating Amazon and its main rival in the domestic market, the Walmart-owned Flipkart, over accusations they had killed off small businesses in India by favouring “preferred sellers” on their platforms.

Media reports said Bezos has sought a meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but neither the government nor Amazon would confirm if talks would be held.

Protesters at a rally demanding the closure of e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart in New Delhi on January 15, 2020. Photo: AFP

Amazon has said it will cooperate with the investigation and was “confident” it was operating legally.

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