Samsung Accuses India's CCI of Illegal Actions

Samsung has accused India's competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), of unlawfully detaining its employees and seizing data during a raid connected to an antitrust investigation involving Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart, according to a legal filing.

The South Korean tech giant is entangled in the CCI's investigation, which concluded in August that Samsung and other smartphone companies violated antitrust laws by collaborating with Amazon and Flipkart to exclusively launch products online.

In an October 11 filing to the High Court in Chandigarh, Samsung seeks to nullify the investigation findings related to its conduct, arguing that the CCI illegally seized material from its employees during a 2022 raid at one of Amazon's vendors.

The company stated in its 32-page filing that three of its employees were detained, their phones seized, and all confidential and privileged data copied by CCI officials during the raid.

"The entire search exercise undertaken ... is patently illegal and any material collected thereunder should not be relied upon and should be promptly returned," wrote Samsung Electronics India.

Samsung has obtained an injunction from the High Court that has temporarily halted the CCI proceedings, but the court has not yet ruled on its requests to return the seized data and to prevent the commission from relying on it.

The CCI has challenged Samsung and 22 other parties that have won similar injunctions from high courts across India, and last week asked the Supreme Court to hear all challenges together, stating that the companies were attempting to obstruct the investigation.

The CCI investigation found that Amazon and Flipkart both breached competition laws by favoring select sellers on their platforms. Amazon and Flipkart have consistently denied any wrongdoing, despite ongoing complaints from brick-and-mortar retailers about their deep discounting and other practices.

Samsung also asserted in its court filing that it was wrongly found to have breached competition laws in collusion with Amazon and Flipkart, despite cooperating with the watchdog and providing information only as a third party in the case.

The inclusion of smartphone makers in the Amazon and Flipkart investigation could escalate legal and compliance challenges for companies like Samsung.

In its August investigation reports, the CCI noted that Samsung was involved in the practice of exclusive phone launches on Amazon and Flipkart, stating that "exclusivity in business is anathema" and against free and fair competition.

According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung is one of India's largest smartphone players with a 14% market share. Datum Intelligence estimates that 50% of phone sales were online last year, up from 14.5% in 2013.