Amazon says India’s Appario to stop selling on platform

One of Amazon India’s biggest sellers, Appario, will cease to list products on the shopping website, the US firm said on Monday, after it faced years of allegations from brick-and-mortar retailers of giving preferential treatment to the seller.

A Reuters investigation last year, based on Amazon documents, showed the US company gave preferential treatment for years to a small group of sellers including Appario and another one named Cloudtail, and used them to bypass Indian laws.

Amazon, which has maintained it does not give preferential treatment to any seller and complies with all laws, agreed to end its relationship with Cloudtail in August last year.

Appario, a joint venture partnership between Amazon and India’s Patni group, has listed products on Amazon India since 2017.