Xiaomi asks India to recall antitrust report on Flipkart (Image:Xiomi)

Xiaomi, the Chinese phone brand has asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which is an antitrust body to recall its report on Walmart’s Flipkart citing concerns about the disclosure of commercial secrets. The report which found that Xiaomi and Flipkart breached competition laws contains sensitive business data including model-wise sales figures that were supposed to be redacted and the company pointed out that the Commission has to recall the report concerning the privacy issues as stated on Monday.

This move could delay the antitrust investigation which began in 2020 as Xiaomi wants the commission to ask parties to return the report, destroy any copies, and re-share the reports after further redactions. The company is not concerned about the data in the report on Amazon, which also found collusion between Amazon and Xiaomi. The two reports a 1027-page one on Amazon and a 1,696-page one on Flipkart, dated August 9 found that the two giants have created a system where certain sellers appeared higher in search results giving them an edge over other sellers.

The probe was followed by a complaint from the Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, affiliated with the Indian trade body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), and an investigation was launched into both Amazon and Flipkart. The findings are significant as both the e-commerce majors face criticism for their business practices from small sellers, whose businesses have had a significant impact thanks to the big discounts offered online.

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The CCI also previously recalled an antitrust report on Apple in August after the company complained about disclosed commercial secrets. The watchdog found that e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart gave preference to select sellers prioritised certain listings and colluded with companies like Xiaomi to launch phones exclusively on their websites. Xiaomi and Flipkart are considered India’s biggest smartphone players holding almost 36% of the market share, along with China’s Vivo at 19%. The CCI’s investigation is in its final phase and may impose penalties of up to 10% of the companies’ global turnover if they are found guilty of violating competition laws.

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