Samsung Electronics has accused India’s Competition Commission (CCI) of unlawfully detaining its employees and seizing confidential data during a raid linked to an antitrust investigation involving Amazon and Flipkart, according to a legal filing. The case stems from a CCI probe that found Samsung and other smartphone companies colluded with the e-commerce giants to launch products exclusively online, breaching antitrust laws.
In an October 11 filing submitted to the High Court in Chandigarh, Samsung requested the quashing of CCI’s findings against it. The company argued that material seized during a 2022 raid at an Amazon vendor was obtained illegally. Samsung stated that three of its employees were detained during the raid, their phones confiscated, and confidential data copied without proper authority.
“The entire search exercise…is patently illegal, and any material collected thereunder should not be relied upon and should be promptly returned,” Samsung wrote in its 32-page petition. The filing also called for the CCI to be prohibited from using or relying on the unlawfully obtained data.
While Samsung secured an injunction from the High Court, temporarily halting the proceedings, the court has yet to decide on returning the seized data or barring the CCI from using it. The watchdog has faced similar injunctions from 22 other companies across India, prompting the CCI to seek a Supreme Court intervention to consolidate the challenges. The regulator claims the firms are attempting to derail its investigation.
The CCI probe centers on allegations that Amazon and Flipkart violated competition laws by favoring specific sellers on their platforms, disadvantaging competitors and brick-and-mortar retailers. Samsung, despite cooperating with the investigation as a third party, has been accused of enabling exclusivity in business practices by launching phones exclusively on Amazon and Flipkart. The watchdog labeled such practices as antithetical to free and fair competition.
Samsung, one of India’s leading smartphone makers with a 14% market share, denies any wrongdoing. The inclusion of smartphone manufacturers in the probe is expected to escalate legal and compliance risks for companies like Samsung.
The case underscores the growing tension between global tech firms and Indian regulators. Online sales have grown significantly in India, with 50% of phones sold online in 2022, compared to just 14.5% in 2013, according to Datum Intelligence. This shift has increased scrutiny on e-commerce platforms and their partnerships with tech firms.