An association of online sellers has set up a fund for members of the public to donate cash to fight against e-commerce websites such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal.

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All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA), which claims to represent 3,500 sellers, accused Flipkart of “abuse of its dominance” by indulging in “unfair and discriminatory” practice of giving goods to seller entities that it controls at a discounted price through Flipkart India.

The association claims that these few seller entities such as WS Retail are then able to sell the same goods at a steep discount on Flipkart's marketplace platform.

The representative body claimed that such a “preferential treatment and discriminatory conduct”, which is prohibited under the Competition Act, “is killing many independent sellers who depend on its platform for their livelihood”.

The industry body last month filed a petition in the Competition Commission of India asking the anti-trust body to investigate such abuse and discrimination.

AIOVA is seeking crowdfunding to help pay for expenses such as filing fees, legal fees and other incidental costs related to this and further petitions.

Crowdfunding is a capital-raising strategy in which investors buy small stakes in ventures through various websites.

Earlier this month, Flipkart signed $16 billion deal with Walmart under which the US retail giant will pick up about 77% stake in the company.

First Published:Jun 1, 2018 10:18 AM IST