FILE PHOTO: A mobile phone showing an image of Indian online retailer Flipkart is seen in front of a Walmart Inc logo displayed in this illustration picture taken July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) -Foreign companies operating in India's booming e-commerce sector face many regulatory and legal challenges from authorities investigating them for alleged non-compliance with Indian laws, moves largely aimed at protecting local businesses.
Below are some of the ongoing regulatory cases, which include global giants Amazon and Walmart:
** Walmart's Indian fashion arm Myntra is being investigated for allegedly breaching rules that ban foreign-funded wholesale retailers from selling directly to consumers, India's federal crime fighting agency revealed on July 23, 2025.
** An Indian antitrust investigation in 2024 found Amazon and Flipkart, violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers on their shopping websites. The companies deny any wrongdoing.
** Samsung, Xiaomi and other smartphone companies also colluded with Amazon and Flipkart to exclusively launch products on their Indian websites in breach of antitrust laws, the investigation found last year.
** India's financial crime agency has been investigating Amazon and Flipkart separately for alleged breaches of investment rules. In 2024, it raided offices of some sellers operating on Amazon and Flipkart.
** The federal financial crime fighting agency has also privately sought sales data and other documents from smartphone players including Apple and Xiaomi as part of an investigation into Amazon and Flipkart.
** India's state-run product certification agency raided the Delhi warehouses of Amazon and Flipkart in March, seizing items that did not meet quality control standards, as it increased its scrutiny of the two firms.
** India's financial crime agency has asked Flipkart and its founders to explain why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for the alleged violation of foreign investment laws, three sources and an agency official told Reuters in 2021.
** Meanwhile, Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case against big fast-delivery businesses Zomato, SoftBank-backed Swiggy and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices.
** An investigation by India's antitrust body found Zomato and Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring select restaurants listed on their platforms, documents showed.
(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Rachna Uppal)
