Report: India Poised To Demand Amazon, Other eTailers Treat All Sellers Equally

India is poised to enact new regulations that would require eCommerce firms such as Amazon and Flipkart to treat all sellers equally and operate transparently when it comes to those relationships, Reuters reported, citing draft regulations. A spokesman for the country’s Ministry of Commerce reportedly denied comment.

The draft of the regulations, which Reuters reported could be adjusted before final promulgation, the scheduling of which is not public, reportedly stated in part: “eCommerce operators must ensure equal treatment of all sellers/vendors registered on their platforms and not adopt algorithms which result in prioritizing select vendors/sellers.”

The draft regulations also stated, according to Reuters, that eCommerce companies must “bring out clear and transparent policies” insofar as online discounts are concerned.

In addition to Amazon and Flipkart, the new policy will apply to Reliance Industries, which runs the JioMart online platform, and other domestic eTailers, Reuters reported.

India’s government has been considering changing policies amid allegations from small sellers that Amazon and Flipkart show some sellers preferential treatment, although both companies said the allegations are untrue, Reuters reported.

However, Reuters published what it called a “special report” that was based on internal documents and stated Amazon at least had been engaging in such practices.

“Amazon favored big sellers on its India platform — and used them to maneuver around rules meant to protect the country’s small retailers from getting crushed by eCommerce giants, internal documents show,” Reuters stated in the special report.

Reuters reported that Amazon has 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.”

India’s government also has been working on new policies to govern the ownership by firms such as Amazon and Flipkart, which is majority-owned by Walmart, of the suppliers of products sold on their platforms.