Amazon used secret ways to flout rules

Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent tough foreign investment rules that affect e-commerce, internal company documents reviewed by Reuters show.

The documents, dated between 2012 and 2019, are reported here for the first time. They provide an inside look at the cat-and-mouse game Amazon has played with India’s government, adjusting its corporate structures each time the government imposed new restrictions.

With Amazon facing scrutiny by Indian regulators, news of the strategy detailed in the documents could deepen the risks for the company in one of its key growth markets. Indian traders, who are a crucial part of the Centre’s support base, have long alleged that Amazon’s platform benefits a few big sellers and that the company engages in predatory pricing that harms their businesses.