Less than six months after it launched, Shopee has said it is shutting down its operations in India.
E-commerce and gaming Singapore-based firm Sea Ltd (owner of Shopee) said on Monday it is withdrawing from India's retail market. The loss-making firm faces a weak growth outlook.
Shopee said in a statement its withdrawal came "in view of global market uncertainties" and that the company would make "the process as smooth as possible".
This is despite the platform becoming one of the most downloaded apps on Android Play Store shortly after its launch.
According to a Reuters source, Shopee's decision to exit from India was sparked in part by stricter regulatory scrutiny that saw Sea's gaming app Free Fire banned as part of a crackdown on companies allegedly sending data to servers in China.
One of the sources told The Indian Express newspaper that Shopee has written a mail to the sellers on its platform informing them about shutting down operations in India.
“All services on the Shopee Seller Centre, including payment withdrawal and disputes for returns, will be available through the existing channels until 30 May. The platform’s logistics partners will continue to pick up and deliver all ongoing orders, and will process return deliveries”.
Earlier this year, an FIR was filed against the company in Lucknow alleging duplicate products being delivered from the platform. Further, a complaint was also filed against Shopee with the Competition Commission of India for indulging in “deep discounting”. The antitrust body earlier this month dismissed the complaint.
Shopee had also faced opposition from a group of local traders led by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which had called for a ban of the platform and had also written to the Finance Minister of India alleging violations of India’s FDI rules by the company.
Source: The Indian Express
