BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: The government is examining the possibility of a probe against Amazon, following allegations of bribery by some of its legal representatives. Amid allegations of huge legal spending by Amazon’s Indian arms over the past few years, government sources said the Center cannot wait for the global e-commerce giant to complete its internal probe and order its own probe. Also, he said, a final call is yet to be taken.
If a probe is ordered, the allegations will be probed at the central government as well as the state level, sources indicated to TOI.
Amazon denied reports that it had spent Rs 8,500 crore as legal fees over the years. “Given the misleading representation of a line item from our statutory filings on legal fees in a section of the media, we clarify that the line item is in fact called legal and business expenses that include not only legal costs but other related costs. Also included are professional services such as outsourcing, tax advisory, customer research, logistic support services, merchant onboarding services, customer service costs etc. For example, the legal fees for the year ended March 2020 stood at Rs 52 crore.
Domestic merchant lobby group CAIT has already approached the government. On Monday, reports first emerged of Amazon launching an investigation and sending its executive on leave.
Amazon is already facing investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegations of promoting select sellers. The e-tailer’s bid to stall the investigation was recently rejected by the Supreme Court.
The company’s operations have come under scrutiny from the government, with the Center also changing rules that forced it to revamp its business model. The latest developments put Amazon under a new lens.
FacebookTwitterLinkedinE-mail
.