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Indian retail group looks for antitrust probe of quick commerce companies Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto

India's most significant group of retail suppliers has actually asked the antitrust authority to investigate 3 fast commerce business Zomato's. Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto for supposed predatory pricing, a. letter showed on Sunday.

Quick commerce is a new shopping rage in India, with. companies promising shipments of anything from groceries to. electronics within 10 minutes, reshaping how Indians store and. challenging e-commerce giants such as Amazon.

In a letter dated Oct. 18, All India Consumer Products. Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which represents 400,000. retail distributors of major business including Nestle. and Hindustan Unilever, informed the antitrust. body fast commerce companies were practising predatory pricing - or. using deep discounts and offering listed below cost to lure. clients.

Zomato's Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy, which runs the. Instamart shipment service and is backed by SoftBank,. did not respond to Reuters questions.

The letter said a number of consumer goods business were. dealing directly with quick commerce companies to increase their. reach, sidelining the standard salesmen who for decades. went from one store to another to provide orders.

Such practices make it impossible for standard merchants. to compete or endure, stated the letter, which is not public but. was seen .

Carry out protective steps for standard distributors. and small merchants to safeguard their interests, it advised the. Competition Commission of India (CCI).

The CCI likewise did not respond to an inquiry from Reuters and. AICPDF decreased to talk about its letter.

Yearly sales on Indian quick commerce platforms are set to. go beyond $6 billion this year, with Blinkit having a nearly 40%. market share, while Swiggy and Zepto around 30% each, research. firm Information Intelligence stated.

The CCI has powers to start an investigation by itself. if it discover merit in grievances, a government authorities told. Reuters on Sunday, asking not to be called since he was not. authorised to speak openly.

The CCI's examination unit in August found bigger. e-commerce gamers, Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart,. breached local laws through predatory pricing, allegations the. business deny.

Showing the strength of the fast commerce sector,. Zomato's shares have doubled this year and Swiggy will in the. coming weeks will introduce its over $1 billion IPO.

(source: Reuters)