Amazon to delist top seller Appario from India marketplace in 12 months

E-commerce major Amazon and its joint venture partner Patni Group-owned Zodiac Wealth on Monday announced delisting of online seller Appario Retail from Amazon's online marketplace in the country.

This is the second giant online seller, after Cloudtail, that has been delisted on Amazon.

"Amazon and India's Patni group-owned Zodiac Wealth Management LLP have agreed to renew their joint venture, Frontizo Business Services Private Ltd. The partners have decided that Appario Retail Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Frontizo, will cease to be a seller on Amazon.in and Amazon.in/business within the next 12 months," the joint statement read.

"The partners will continue to explore new business opportunities, including helping businesses across India to scale up their online presence," the joint statement read.

Amazon set up the Frontizo JV with the Patni group in 2017.

In April this year, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) hailed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for conducting raids on the offices of Cloudtail and Appario.

The trade body had said that predatory pricing, deep discounting, loss funding, and exclusive sale of branded products in collusion with respective corporate companies, owing inventory are some of the fundamental issues raised by the CAIT.

In 2019, Amazon reduced its stake in Cloudtail -- a joint venture firm between Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy and the e-commerce giant -- from 49 per cent to 26 per cent after the Centre unveiled new foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for ecommerce firms.

In January this year, the CAIT moved the CCI, seeking a direction to block the acquisition of Cloudtail India by Amazon.

India is a key market for Amazon which has invested over $6.5 billion in the country.

--IANS

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