In a probe over foreign exchange norms violations, the Enforcement Directorate has issued summons to Amazon India head Amit Agarwal and senior officials of the retail major, and officials of Future Group. Under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the executives of Amazon and Future Group have been summoned along with documents on December 6 next week as part of a disputed deal between the two companies.
“We are in receipt of summons issued by the ED in connection with the Future Group. As we have just received the summons, we are examining it and will respond within the given time frame,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating Amazon’s stake acquisition in Future Coupons back in 2019 under various sections of the FEMA. Future Coupons was founded in 2008 and is engaged in the business of marketing and distribution of gift cards, loyalty cards, and other rewards programmes to corporate customers.
The ED began its probe after it received a communication from the Commerce Ministry early this year seeking “necessary action” against e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart pertaining to certain multi-brand retail businesses and an observation made by the Delhi High Court in relation to Amazon.
The HC had noted that Amazon willing to control Future Retail through a conflation of agreements it has with an unlisted unit of the Indian company will be considered in violation of the FEMA and foreign direct investment (FDI) rules.
The agency, after gathering details from the documents earlier submitted by the conglomerates and other sources over the last few months, have summoned the executives to take the investigation forward.
