The Enforcement Directorate has recently asked Amazon for information related to its operations in the country as the agency continues to investigate the US e-commerce giant, a senior agency source said on Friday.

Last month, the source had said the directorate will examine the findings in a recent Reuters special report which revealed that Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform and used them to circumvent the country’s foreign investment rules.

Amazon has for several years been under investigation by the agency for possible violation of foreign investment rules. Such probes typically take years in India, and in most cases details are not made public.
The Reuters special report was based on internal Amazon documents dated between 2012 and 2019. It provided an inside look at the cat-and-mouse game Amazon has played with the Indian government, adjusting its corporate structures each time the government imposed new restrictions aimed at protecting small traders.

On Friday, the senior enforcement directorate source told Reuters “obviously we have sought information” from Amazon.

Indian retailers, which are a crucial part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support base, have long alleged that e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart flout federal regulations and that their business practices hurt small traders. The companies deny the allegations.

The documents reviewed by Reuters showed that Amazon helped a small number of sellers prosper on its India platform, giving them discounted fees and helping one cut special deals with big tech manufacturers such as Apple Inc.

Rs 225cr infusion

Amazon has infused over Rs 225 crore into its payments unit in India, Amazon Pay, according to regulatory documents. The fresh infusion is expected to help the company compete more aggressively against rivals like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.