Samsung has accused India’s competition regulator of illegally detaining its employees and seizing materials.
The South Korean tech giant claimed the actions took place as part of an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, according to a legal filing.
Samsung gets involved competition commission of indiaThe CCI’s investigation concluded in August that the South Korean giant and other smartphone companies colluded with Amazon and Flipkart to launch products exclusively online, violating antitrust laws.
Also read: India competition agency seeks adjudication in Amazon, Flipkart cases
According to Reuters, Samsung’s October 11 filing with the high court in the northern city of Chandigarh aimed to overturn findings related to the company’s conduct, saying that the CCI illegally withheld the personal data of its employees during a raid on an Amazon supplier in 2022. Material.
Regulatory agency officials detained three Samsung employees, seized their phones and copied all confidential and privileged data, the company said in an unpublished 32-page document.
“The entire search operation conducted… was clearly illegal and therefore any material collected should not be relied upon and should be returned immediately,” South Korea’s Samsung Electronics India subsidiary wrote.
It added that the CCI “should be prohibited from using or relying on illegally collected data and information”.
Samsung and CCI did not respond to inquiries from Reuters.
Court bans CCI action
Samsung has obtained a high court injunction to stay the CCI proceedings, but the court has yet to rule on its request to return the seized data and not allow the commission to rely on it.
The CCI has challenged Samsung and 22 other parties that won similar injunctions in India’s high courts, and last week asked the Supreme Court to hear all challenges together, saying the companies were trying to undermine the investigation.
The CCI investigation found that both Amazon and Flipkart violated competition laws by favoring specific sellers on their platforms.
Amazon and Flipkart have repeatedly denied wrongdoing, even as brick-and-mortar retailers continue to complain about their deep discounting and other practices.
Samsung also claimed in court documents that it was wrongly found to have violated competition laws by colluding with Amazon and Flipkart, even though it has been cooperating with regulators and only providing information as a third party in the case.
Bringing smartphone makers into Amazon and Flipkart’s probe could add to legal and compliance headaches for companies like Samsung.
In its investigation report in August, the CCI noted that Samsung was involved in releasing mobile phones exclusively on Amazon and Flipkart, saying “business exclusivity is abhorrent” and opposed to free and fair competition.
According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in India, accounting for 14% of the market. Datum Intelligence estimates that 50% of mobile phone sales came online last year, up from 14.5% in 2013.
- Reuters Additional editing by Jim Pollard
See also:
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Tencent acquires stake in India’s Flipkart for US$264 million – Economic Times
Walmart-owned Flipkart targets US$60-70 billion for 2023 IPO
India aims to break Amazon, Walmart’s grip on e-commerce
Amazon and Flipkart fail in last-ditch effort to thwart India’s antitrust probe
