Xiaomi India Calls For CCI To Withdraw Flipkart Antitrust Report Over ‘Sensitive Data’

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has called on India’s antitrust watchdog to withdraw its report that accused the company of colluding with ecommerce giant Flipkart to breach the country’s competition laws.

In a letter to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Xiaomi expressed concerns about some sensitive company data in the regulator’s report on Flipkart, including model-wise sales, Business Standard reported, citing sources.

The Chinese smartphone maker has suggested that CCI ask the parties privy to the report to return the document and destroy any copies, and then issue a new one after redacting sensitive information, as it has previously done in the case of tech giant Apple, the report added.

The development comes on the heels of reports saying that a CCI investigation found that Xiaomi, Samsung and other smartphone makers colluded with Flipkart and Amazon to favour select sellers and launch their products exclusively on the ecommerce firms’ shopping websites in breach of India’s antitrust laws.

While Xiaomi has asked CCI to recall its report on Flipkart, it has not expressed concern about the regulator’s report on Amazon, which also accused the Chinese smartphone maker of flouting the country’s competition laws.

Notably, Xiaomi continued to dominate the Indian smartphone market with a 21% market share as of July 2024, with Samsung grabbing the third position, data from Counterpoint showed.

Ecommerce giants Flipkart and Amazon are facing a fresh antitrust headache: the CCI has reportedly sought financial statements of the two companies to determine the penalty on the duo was found guilty of giving preferential treatment to certain sellers on their shopping website, and thereby, violating local competition laws.

The regulatory action against Flipkart and Amazon is part of the government’s broader crackdown on the big tech firms facing scrutiny for alleged anti-competitive business practices. 

While Google has had to pay hefty fines and undertake sweeping changes to its India operations in response to CCI’s crackdown, Apple too has been pulled up by authorities for abusing its dominance in the app marketplace segment.