Traders file plea against Walmart

Small traders body Confederation of All India Traders ( CAIT) said on Tuesday that it has filed an appeal in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ( NCLAT) against the decision of Competition Commission of India ( CCI) to approve Walmart- Flipkart deal.

Around two weeks back, Walmart had said that it has completed its $ 16 billion acquisition of a majority stake in India’s largest e- commerce company Flipkart.

In its appeal, the CAIT has asked for reversing the CCI order “as no opportunity of hearing was given by CCI to CAIT.”

CCI on August 8 approved the proposed acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart.

In its appeal, CAIT has maintained that it had filed a detailed objection against this proposed combination before the CCI on several grounds.

“It was alleged that the proposed combination would lead to a huge degree of vertical integration in the market since Walmart is a global retail giant with its own range of multi- brand products,” said CAIT.

It said that where the B2B market is concerned, there is a high likelihood of Flipkart and Walmart would affect other wholesalers on the platform, eliminating them in the long run by using several methods such as creation of algorithms perpetuating a search bias in favour of Walmart, and the creation of preferred sellers who would be receiving commissions.