India Opens Antitrust Probe Into Amazon, Flipkart

India’s Competition Commission has opened an antitrust probe into Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart Online Services Pvt, over exclusive arrangements between the retailers and mobile phone brands and preferential treatment given to some sellers.

A complaint by a New Delhi-based traders’ body cited “instances of several vertical agreements between Flipkart with their preferred sellers on the platform” and Amazon with their preferred sellers, “which have led to a foreclosure of other non-preferred traders or sellers from these online marketplaces,” according to a filling from the Competition Commission of India Monday. The complaint also alleges that some smartphone brands are being offered at significantly discounted prices on the retailers’ websites, which puts others at a disadvantage.