Enforcement Directorate has issued notice to Flipkart and its founders over alleged forex violation
Flipkart, its founders and nine others have been issued notice by Enforcement Directorate (ED) over alleged forex violations. They have been asked to explain why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for alleged violation of foreign investment laws.
ED sources said that Flipkart violated FEMA rules while attracting foreign investments between 2009 and 2015.
"Flipkart is in compliance with Indian laws and regulations, including foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations. We will cooperate with the authorities as they look at this issue pertaining to the period 2009-15 as per their notice," a statement issued by Flipkart said.
The agency has been investigating e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon.com Inc for quite some time for allegedly bypassing foreign investment laws that strictly regulate multi-brand retail and restrict such companies to operating a marketplace for sellers.
ED sources further informed that the case concerned an investigation into allegations that Flipkart attracted foreign investment and a related party, WS Retail, then sold goods to consumers on its shopping website, which was prohibited under law.
