Amazon dodged curbs, favoured few
Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent increasingly tough foreign investment rules that affect ecommerce, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters show. The documents, dated between 2012 and 2019, provide an inside look at the cat-andmouse game Amazon has played with the Indian government, adjusting its corporate structures each time the government imposed new restrictions aimed at protecting small traders. Indian traders have long alleged that Amazon’s platform largely benefits a few big sellers. In a written statement, Amazon said that it “has always complied with the law” in India.
Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent tough foreign investment rules that affect e-commerce, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters show.
The documents, dated between 2012 and 2019, are reported here for the first time. They provide an inside look at the cat-and-mouse game Amazon has played with India’s government, adjusting its corporate structures each time the government imposed new restrictions.
With Amazon facing scrutiny by Indian regulators, news of the strategy detailed in the documents could deepen the risks for the company in one of its key growth markets. Indian traders, who are a crucial part of the Centre’s support base, have long alleged that Amazon’s platform benefits a few big sellers and that the company engages in predatory pricing that harms their businesses. In a written statement, Amazon said that it “has always complied with the law” in India and that “as government policies have continued to evolve, we have consistently made the necessary changes to ensure compliance at all times.”
Amazon also said it “does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace,” and that it “treats all sellers in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner, with each seller responsible for independently determining prices and managing their inventory.”
The documents reveal that the
e-commerce giant helped a small number of sellers prosper and gave them discounted fees, using them to bypass India’s regulatory restrictions on foreign investment aimed at protecting small traders.
Some 33 Amazon sellers accounted for about a third of the value of all goods sold on the company’s website in early 2019. Another two big sellers—merchants in which Amazon had indirect stakes—accounted for around 35% of the platform’s revenue in early 2019. That meant 35 of Amazon’s over 400,000 sellers in India at the time accounted for around twothirds of its online sales.
Amazon exercised significant control over the inventory of some of the biggest sellers on Amazon.in, even though it says publicly that all sellers operate independently on its platform.
The e-commerce giant helped Cloudtail, a seller in which it has an indirect equity stake, cut special deals with big tech manufacturers such as Apple Inc, the documents show. One document contains a frank appraisal of PM Narendra Modi. “PM Modi is not an intellectual or an academic but believes that strong administration and governance is the key to running a successful government,” it said.
Actor-filmmaker Olivia Wilde has lauded singer-actor Harry Styles, who is rumoured to be her boyfriend, for taking a supporting role in her upcoming directorial Don’t Worry Darling. The film is Wilde’s second project as a filmmaker after Booksmart (2019). The cast also includes actors Florence Pugh and Chris Pine.
Wilde gave a shout-out to Styles in a recent Instagram post, praising his “humility and grace” for agreeing to the supporting part in the film. “Most male actors don’t want to play supporting roles in female-led films. The industry has raised them to believe it lessens their power...,” Wilde, 36, wrote alongside a still of the former One Direction member from the movie.
Styles, who made his feature film acting debut with Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), replaced Shia LaBeouf on the movie last September.
Wilde further wrote that it is difficult to find actors who would make way for a woman “to hold the spotlight” in a film. “Enter: @harrystyles, our ‘Jack’. Not only did he relish the opportunity to allow for the brilliant @florencepugh to hold center stage as our ‘Alice’, but he infused every scene with a nuanced sense of humanity... He jumped on board with humility and grace, blew us away with his talent, warmth, and ability to drive backwards,” she said. Meanwhile, reports say Wilde has moved in with Styles after she was seen shifting suitcases from the home she used to share with former fiance, actor Jason Sudeikis, into the singer’s house on Valentine’s Day.