For the past month, many sellers on Flipkart have been unable to adjust the prices of their listings. This is after the Walmart-owned e-commerce platform revised its commission rate card in May, as per a report by MoneyControl.
Several sellers reportedly accused Flipkart of violating the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for e-commerce marketplaces. While claiming that the company was anti-competitive, the sellers reportedly said that Flipkart was disadvantaging small sellers while favoring larger ones.
Senior government officials, however, said that they were not aware of developments. The price change restriction might be used as a strategy to ensure sellers transfer the benefits of the reduced commissions—introduced in their new rate card—to consumers.
The new seller rate card was implemented by Flipkart last month, and the company mentioned that the four components (fixed, commission, collection, and shipping) were simplified to two components (fixed and commission). It was further added that shipping (below 500 g) within the local and zonal regions wouldn’t incur additional charges.
During the implementation, said Rakesh Krishnan, Vice President and Head of Marketplace, Flipkart had reportedly said, “This rate card redesign is part of Flipkart’s broader initiative to streamline operations and offer robust support to our vast network of sellers across India. These changes will improve the ease of doing business and amplify potential market reach and consumer engagement.”
Meanwhile, sellers contended that as of May 18, at midnight, when the new rate card went into force, the platform prohibited price adjustments. They have also claimed that they were not given time to adjust to the new rate change and assess whether or not they could really pass along the savings in commissions to their clients.
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Flipkart, on the other hand, has said that the company does not influence pricing and is in compliance with FDI regulations. A Flipkart spokesperson told Moneycontrol, “Flipkart stands steadfast in its commitment to adapting and evolving in sync with our sellers' requirements... The all-new simplified rate card policy is aimed at optimizing growth avenues for sellers while enhancing settlement transparency.”
