🚨Aviva conspired to dodge India agent fee & tax rules to grow market share🚨
Emails found with fake budgets; 10-rupee notes used as token for clandestine cash payments. Vendors issued fake bills to pass excess incentives Thread with notice photos🧵
Amazon says it runs a transparent online marketplace and treats all sellers equally in India. The internal Amazon documents contradict those claims. The documents also show that the company has exercised significant control over the inventory of some of the biggest sellers
Reuters Flash: NDTV files stock exchange disclosure saying founders are prohibited from selling or buying shares currently and hence any Adani attempt to acquire promoter company needs clearance first from market regulator SEBI
#AdaniVsNDTV
Undoubtedly, this can be corrigendum of the year?! Tucked in the bottom corner of page 5 of India’s top daily Times of India, Delhi Police says sorry for using “phat gayi” instead of “phat gaya”. Don’t miss the original ad in the next tweet, thanks to e-paper.
Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance (Indiabulls)
@dhanicares
with my PAN number & name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN. In default already
@RBI
@IncomeTaxIndia
@nsitharaman
Quick analysis of Indian PM Narendra Modi’s Twitter account since March 30, 2021. Sharing facts. Tweets with video/text/photos on state election/rallies/voting – 88; tweets on COVID testing, vaccination, preparedness - 7 (approximate count done manually on English, Hindi tweets)
Reuters Investigation: Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers in India, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent tough foreign investment rules, company documents show
“Test the Boundaries of what is allowed by law,” said one slide in a 2014 presentation, titled “Risk Analysis”, which was contained hundreds of internal Amazon documents that have been reported by
@Reuters
for the first time.
When was the last time Indian media was this critical of Indian media? Seeing this on front page of the Indian Express is unprecedented. “The TVirus”
#SSRDeathCase
#RheaChakraborthy
Hey Elon, I am the Industry & Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India
Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/Telangana
Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives & a top notch business destination in India
Amazon's journey & regulatory headaches in India. Bernstein says Amazon invested $6.5Bn+ in India, one of its biggest markets, but "profitability remains elusive". Thread on that report, Amazon's journey,
@Reuters
investigations into its practices & how things changed over time🧵
Abu Dhabi’s IHC new statement on Adani unit stake sales. Says “disclosure to the market aligns with the company's strategy to rebalance its investment portfolio…Our partnership with Adani and dedication to the Indian market remain steadfast.”
Reuters Exclusive: South Korea's Kia Motors is discussing with the Tamil Nadu the possibility of moving a $1.1 billion India plant out of Andhra Pradesh only months after it fully opened, due to policy changes last year made by the new local administration
The document also included a brief appraisal of the Indian leader. “PM Modi is not an intellectual or an academic but believes that strong administration and governance is the key to running a successful government,” it said. Read more:
Reuters Investigation: Internal Amazon documents reveal a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs & rigging search results to boost its own brands like AmazonBasics & Solimo in India. Amazon exploited internal data to copy products of other firms
#Thread
Reuters Story: Xiaomi accuses India agency of 'physical violence' threats during probe. Xiaomi says top executives, including Manu Jain, faced threats of “dire consequences including arrest” if they did not give statements as desired, court filing shows
Amazon has repeatedly said it has no role in pricing goods sold online in India and that prices are decided by sellers. Following the 2016 rule change, however, Amazon lowered the fees it charged some big sellers on its platform to enable them to offer more competitive prices.
The company documents also showed that in early 2019, some 35 of Amazon’s more than 400,000 sellers in India at the time accounted for around two-thirds of its online sales. Indian traders have long alleged that Amazon’s platform largely benefits a tiny number of big sellers
Reuters Story: India's Reliance is reviving the historic Campa brand that was all the rage in 1980s, invoking nationalism & nostalgia to fight Pepsi & Coke. It’s not easy to beat the U.S. firms, but this could be start of the "Cola Wars". A thread 🧵
After Amazon's Tandav, now Netflix faces heat in India. India child rights body asks Netflix to stop streaming Bombay Begums. "Series with this type of content will ... pollute the young minds of children"
Reuters Story: Tesla restarts India market talks with new factory proposal to build its electric cars for domestic sale & export, source says. Proposal comes after India earlier asked Tesla to first manufacture locally when it asked for lower import taxes.
Reuters Flash: Succession series will come back to India. Broadcast JV of Reliance, Viacom18, has struck a deal with Warner Bros for bringing Hollywood and international content on its streaming platform JioCinema, sources say. Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, HBO content too
Reuters Flash: India antitrust body fines Google 1338 crore Indian rupees for anti-competitive conduct in case related to Android ecosystem; Google denied market access for competing search apps, CCI says
Reuters Insight: India's consumer goods salesmen face ruin as Mukesh Ambani targets mom-and-pop stores. Distributors face an existential threat to their business and say Reliance Retail is luring kiranas with prices they just can’t match.
Reuters Story: India plans to force smartphone makers to allow removal of pre-installed apps & mandate screening of major OS updates under new security rules. Govt concerned about spying, abuse of user data by foreign nations including China 🧵
Online smartphone sales have boomed. In 2018, Amazon's Amit Agarwal said in an internal email: “We had our biggest day ever for Smartphones, with estimated 3 out of every 4 smartphones sold in the entire country (online or offline) purchased on "
Reuters Story: India's DLF sold a $1 billion upmarket residential project in 72 hours, while rival Godrej is offering $3 million houses to clients by invitation. We visited both sites. There is a trend - luxury housing is booming again in India 🧵
India reports more than 400,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. Here are some facts, from public statements and the central government's submission in India's Supreme Court on COVID-19 management. What happened between Jan 28 and March 8, 2021?
#THREAD
#IndiaCOVID
15 years at
@Reuters
today. Been a thrilling ride. Grateful to all editors, team members, managers, colleagues, sources, executives, friends & family. 15 sounds too long, but there's still never a dull day at Reuters when you are reporting on business in India!
India antitrust body told a court
@Reuters
report showing Amazon gave preferential treatment to certain sellers corroborated evidence it had. Additional Solicitor General read through the story for 15 minutes, saying CCI might examine Amazon documents.
India has told social media companies to remove content referring to “Indian variant” of coronavirus. That variant was identified in India. India however has referred to other variants as UK, Brazil, South Africa ones in its official statements. Am I missing something here?
Indian retailer group calls for ban on Amazon in country after Reuters report. “The shocking revelations” are “sufficient enough to immediately ban operations of Amazon in India,” the group said.
@indiabullsdhani
@dhanicares
Someone avail loan using my aadhar and pan details.
I have not received any communication or OTP from DHANI.
Today your person visited my house as he was not able to get in contact with number registered during loan availment.
Amazon says Cloudtail is an independent seller. But Amazon has been deeply involved in expanding Cloudtail – often referred to as “SM,” or “Special Merchant,” in the documents. “...we helped SM quickly ramp up and gain scale,” a Feb. 23, 2015 document said.
However slow the U.S. election result maybe, I am amazed at the calmness on channels like
@CNN
. Speak softly, two anchors, simply analyze state by state using one touch-screen TV. In India, on the other CNN, you have dozens of panelists and of course, the "quadcopter"
@CNNnews18
Reuters Flash: India's Adani Group says it is evaluating relevant provisions under U.S. and Indian laws for "remedial and punitive action" against Hindenburg Research, which accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens and flagged concerns about high debt.
Asia's richest man Gautam Adani buys 29.2% stake in NDTV, one of India's most popular channels. Announces open offer for another 26% stake. The plan could set the stage for direct battle with Reliance's Mukesh Ambani who has interest in CNBC/TV18 group
Reuters Insight: Construction at J&J’s largest Indian plant was completed in 2016, but today it stands idle. Production never started. Sources tell us what went wrong – there was not enough demand in the market, & GST/demonetization were also to be blamed
All details. NDTV seeks to block Adani's attempt. NDTV says founders have since 2020 been barred from buying or selling shares in India's securities market. "This seems like an effort by NDTV to stall or slow down the process" a lawyer said.
Completed 16 long and eventful years at
@Reuters
. From starting in the online team in 2008 to reporting on health ministry in 2014 and then obsessing over company news ever since - it’s been an exciting journey. Thankful to all colleagues and editors for the support.
Update: My father wasn’t “Shambhu”. Following the social media uproar, Dhani has shared documents used to open my fake loan a/c. And also registered a complaint with cyber crime police. Tweeting doc photos of fake PAN, Aadhar in new thread here. 🧵
@dhanicares
@RBI
@IncomeTaxIndia
Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance (Indiabulls)
@dhanicares
with my PAN number & name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN. In default already
@RBI
@IncomeTaxIndia
@nsitharaman
On
@Reuters
- a source says BGMI game of Krafton banned under section 69A of IT law, often used to ban Chinese apps due to national security concerns. Krafton shares fell 9 pct in morning trade in South Korea
Reuters Exclusive: China’s Alibaba, Jack Ma summoned by Indian district court. A former employee has filed a case saying he was sacked after he objected to alleged censorship and fake news on UC Browser & UC News apps, court documents show.
Indian Minister
@PiyushGoyal
says arrogant U.S. ecommerce giants flout our laws. "I can see a little bit of arrogance." He criticized firms failing to comply with antitrust probes. If they have nothing to hide..why not respond to the watchdog, Goyal asked
Reuters Exclusive: Amazon in early-stage talks to buy $2 billion stake in Bharti Airtel, sources say. The planned investment, if completed, would mean Amazon acquiring a roughly 5% stake based on Bharti's current market value. Bharti shares up nearly 6%.
Reuters Insight: More patients than beds in Mumbai as India faces surge in virus cases. For years, India’s private hospitals have taken the strain off its public health network, but the virus shows the risks the country's health system faces
#THREAD
Flash: is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Details soon.
Reuters Story: India's push for home-grown navigation system jolts smartphone giants. New Delhi wants tech giants to make smartphones compatible with its NavIC system within months, worrying the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi & Apple. Here are all the details 🧵
In March 2016, Cloudtail’s share of sales on was around 47%, an internal document shows. The documents show that Amazon was effectively treating Cloudtail’s inventory as its own
Reuters Flash: Disney, Reliance $8.5 billion India media assets merger gets antitrust warning notice in India, sources say; Competition watchdog concerned about market power of merged entity over cricket broadcast rights, asks why investigation should not be ordered
No funds available - Depositors at India's PMC Bank survive on loans, charity. Kishan Lal, 82, in February said he was ready to donate his kidney & eyes if someone could help arrange funds to treat his daughter. His savings were blocked in PMC
#Thread
Reuters Insight: WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as $14 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the world's most popular messaging app
Reuters Flash: India telecom, IT secretaries to push Apple, Samsung, other players in a closed-door meeting on Oct. 12 to prioritize software upgrades for 5G smartphones, meeting notice shows, amid concerns iPhone, Samsung top models not ready to support high-speed service.
As India announced new investment rules in 2016, Amazon moved the procurement of some phone brands Cloudtail was offering to Amazon Wholesale, which then supplied these products to “certain” sellers, who sold them on .
Text message for delivery of my Reliance AJIO shopping order today shows the sender is “Qwik Supply Chain”.
@Krishn_
and I last month looked at Qwik and its links to Ambani’s Reliance - and found lots - after it emerged as a top donor in electoral bonds scheme.🧵in next tweet.
Amazon-designed Xessentia shirts were based on Louis Philippe. In 2016, many customers returned Xessentia shirts. Then, Amazon found John Miller was doing better, so it copied measurements inch by inch. Reuters investigation:
@stecklow
@phirschberg1
Reuters Investigation: Foxconn excludes married women from Apple iPhone assembly jobs in India due to reasons such as family duties, pregnancy & higher absenteeism. This violates their anti-discrimination policies
#LongRead
#Thread
About two months after Cloudtail’s launch in August 2014, Jeff Bezos met India PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi. A draft document containing talking points was prepared for the Oct. 3 meeting. It makes no mention of Cloudtail or its plans.
Twitter becomes platform of hope amid the despair of India's COVID crisis. People are turning to Twitter to crowdsource help for oxygen cylinders & hospital beds. “Twitter is having to do what the government helpline numbers should be doing"
Ashwini Vaishnaw is going to be a very busy man in Modi’s new India cabinet. IT ministry + railways + information broadcasting. Netflix to X to Meta to Google to Foxconn — chip making to online content moderation, streaming regulations and bullet trains! All with one minister.
New job alert!
@Reuters
is hiring a "Legal Correspondent" in India. Based in Delhi, the journalist will focus on regularly reporting on the biggest legal cases related to business, general news and political news themes. Apply and/or share if interested.
@RBI
@FinMinIndia
@PMOIndia
kindly look in to indiabulls dhani as many people facing fraud issue someone availing loan using Pan and Aadhar card.we are not getting any OTP or notification and after few day la recovery agent come to home and asking for loan payment.take it serious
Reuters Story: At one Big Bazaar, bright blue grocery crates of rivals Reliance were unloaded this week, part of a takeover that began with stealth on Feb. 25 night. 'Shops are gone': How Reliance stunned Amazon in one of India’s biggest corporate battles
Two workers at a Delhi salon wanted to discuss Kejriwal and explain why they voted for him. They said they don’t get electricity/water bills, nearby hospital used to have bad facilities but now is great (and even has fans!). Roads have been built in their areas
#DelhiElection
At $0.60, the world's cheapest Domino's pizza is in inflation-hit India. Global restaurant chains are scrambling to lure Indians hit by rising prices. It's a tale of two consumers in a country with yawning gaps between rich and poor. A Reuters deep dive 🧵
Reuters Flash: India's Enforcement Directorate has asked Walmart's Flipkart, its founders, Tiger Global & others why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for alleged violation of foreign investment laws during 2009-15. Flipkart says will cooperate with authorities
Reuters Story: Pernod Ricard, maker of Chivas & Absolut, has put new Indian investments on hold due to “ever-lasting” tax disputes over liquor imports valuation, documents show. It has written to PM Modi’s office for "sympathetic consideration"
India’s top court referred the case back to the state court, where a judge on Tuesday rejected Bytedance’s request to put the ban order on TikTok on hold
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren calls for breaking up Amazon following a Reuters investigation that revealed the company copied products & rigged search results in India to boost private brands. Indian retailers & start-ups ask the government to intervene
India antitrust body investigating package delivery giants Germany's DHL, U.S.-based UPS & FedEx for alleged collusion on discounts & tariffs of airport services. Officials have collected thousands of emails as evidence in the confidential investigation
Exclusive: A Reuters investigation based on more than 200 pages of emails between Mastercard and the USTR finds how the company lobbied to oppose data storage or domestic payment network rules in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Laos, Ukraine and Ghana
#THREAD
Chinese apps in India are facing growing calls to boycott their use during a border standoff, the latest headache for firms already alarmed by stricter investment rules. The top trending free app on Google app store in India: "Remove China Apps"
Reuters Insight: As fisherfolk protest, billionaire Gautam Adani's $900 mln south India port hangs in the balance. A shelter built by the fishing community blocks the entrance of Vizhinjam port. Construction is stalled. It's a rare challenge for Adani 🧵
Reuters Flash: India antitrust body CCI fines Google 9.36 billion Indian rupees (936 crores) in second antitrust fine. The case is in-app billing/payments ecosystem. CCI says Google to "not restrict app developers from using any third party billing/payment processing services"
Reuters Flash: Apple is facing a new antitrust case in India for allegedly abusing its position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its in-app payment system. The case, filed by a non-profit, also alleges Apple’s practices have hurt India payment processors
Team
@Reuters
won India’s Ramnath Goenka award for stories on Amazon India business practices. Based on company documents, they revealed how Amazon circumvented Indian laws & favoured big sellers, copied products and rigged search results. With
@stecklow
#RNGAwards
@phirschberg1
China’s Vivo faces allegations of visa rules violations in India, siphoning off $13 billion. Many concealed employment when seeking visas & some breached rules by visiting "sensitive" areas of J&K, Ladakh, Indian agency says. Details in story
@arpanc_
Some history. Campa was one of India's most popular sugary sodas in 1970s, 1980s. Then, the brand disappeared as the U.S. giants expanded rapidly in a liberalising economy. Last year, Reliance acquired Campa for $3 million. Here's a very old ad of Campa
Indian startups rejoice as Android ruling against Google upheld. Rohan Verma, CEO of MapmyIndia, told Reuters his app had not gained market share over the years because the Google Maps app was pre-installed on many Android phones. He hopes things change.
Reuters Flash: India's LIC managing director tells
@Nikunj_Ohri
will review Adani Group response to Hindenburg report, hold discussions with management. We have "right to ask relevant questions" as we are a large investor
Kia has been troubled by a new Andhra state law on local hiring and by the new state government wanting to review the incentives given out by the previous administration to encourage the company to set up the plant, two sources told Reuters
An Indian group of mobile retailers urged PM Narendra Modi to probe Amazon's business practices following a
@Reuters
story that revealed the U.S. firm gave preferential treatment to a group of sellers & used them to circumvent foreign investment rules
Breaking News. “Monkeys grabbed and fled with the blood samples of four COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment” in Uttar Pradesh. Monkeys steal coronavirus blood samples in India
@Reuters
Ola Electric's Service Woes
This picture is from an Ola workshop near Mumbai. 100+ e-scooters waiting for repairs, gathering dust & littered with bird droppings. A
@Reuters
deep dive into India's biggest e-scooter maker & its challenges.
Read:
#Thread
🧵
More from others with credit report photos. Same case. Loan disbursed to someone who submitted someone else’s PAN and name. Then default starts. Scary bad loans ticking bomb, fraud and more.
@RBI
@dhanicares
@IncomeTaxIndia
I haven't taken any loan from Indiabulls Dhani App but don't know how? showing in my cibil score on my name on my pan card.
Phone number and date of birth all details wrong.
Dhani is misusing my PAN card.I am mentally disturbed because of all this.
@dhanicares
@ibhomeloans
India's whisky drinking landscape is changing.
Indri single malt made at a distillery surrounded by sugarcane farms near Delhi was labelled world's best. France's Pernod this week got Bollywood stars to launch its first local malt 👇🧵
@Reuters
deep dive
Considering relocation within months of Kia's plant inauguration highlights the challenges foreign investors face while dealing with policy changes at federal or state level in India.