New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted raids on several sellers associated with e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart across the country for alleged money laundering activities.
The Education Ministry is reportedly conducting a pan-India search for subsidiaries and sellers of leading e-commerce players. Nearly 24 such seller outlets in cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are being raided by regulators.
Sources revealed that the Education Department is conducting an investigation related to the so-called Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations.
The purpose of the ED raids was to find evidence related to suspected money laundering activities, which may have been conducted through online e-commerce platforms.
There was no immediate comment from regulators or e-commerce businesses.
Amazon and Flipkart have previously faced scrutiny in the country over their business practices. In September, an investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) reportedly found that Amazon and Flipkart violated local competition laws by favoring specific sellers on their platforms.
At the same time, the Central Consumer Protection Agency (CCPA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is also reviewing a large number of complaints related to the use of “dark patterns” and plans to crack down on online e-commerce companies that violate consumer protection laws. The use of “dark patterns” on online platforms has sparked controversy in India. These deceptive techniques mislead people into doing things they don’t want to do, such as paying for items or services they didn’t intend to purchase.
The Indian government recently released draft guidelines to curb the use of “dark mode” by large online platforms. The Digital India Act can also regulate “dark mode” on the Internet through user security provisions. To protect customers from fake online reviews of products, the government has also issued a comprehensive set of guidelines.
