Indonesia probing Shopee, Lazada units for alleged competition rule breaches
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Indonesia’s anti-trust agency did not elaborate on what the alleged breaches of anti-competition rules were.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s anti-trust agency said on May 27 it was investigating the local units of e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada for suspected violations of anti-competition rules.
The companies are Shopee Internasional Indonesia and Ecart Webportal Indonesia, which oversee the domestic operations of Shopee and Lazada, respectively.
The agency did not elaborate on what the alleged breaches of anti-competition rules were.
Shopee, owned by South-east Asian technology firm Sea, and Lazada, the South-east Asian arm of Alibaba, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The agency’s hearing into the conduct of Shopee would start on May 28, it said, without giving details of a potential punishment.
The agency found early evidence of violations by Lazada, which it said is facing a maximum fine of 50 per cent of its net profits or 10 per cent of its sales earned during the time of the alleged breaches.
“There are indications Lazada has undertaken discriminative actions that potentially inhibit competition and indications that its actions have been harmful to consumers,” the agency said. REUTERS
