Mumbai: The Forum for Internet Retailers, Sellers & Traders (FIRST) has dragged Walmart-owned Flipkart Group to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), seeking a fresh investigation into the conduct of the company over practices designed to distort competition, benefit few preferred sellers and exclude scores of small retailers from the marketplace system.In its 157-page complaint to CCI, filed on July 2, FIRST alleged that Flipkart put in place a structural and operational mechanism to distort competition by facilitating and sustaining deep discounting across product categories at a marketplace-wide level. FIRST also alleged that the group generated a “self-replenishing reservoir of funds” estimated at about Rs 3,000 crore annually through the reduction or avoidance of GST liabilities related to its logistics and fulfilment operations, which it uses to sustain “exclusionary pricing conduct.” TOI has a copy of the complaint. FIRST is an affiliate of India SME Forum. Flipkart did not respond to any queries .“This subsidy pool is deployed through the ecosystem of preferred sellers in the form of incentives, rebates and discounts….ultimately reflected in lower retail prices that independent sellers cannot match without sustaining significant losses or being driven out of business,” FIRST alleged. The association said that the complaint raises a “distinct and wide-ranging competition concern,” going beyond just the existence of deep discounting. “The present information is not limited to any particular product category and seeks an investigation into a broader marketplace-wide conduct by Flipkart and its group entities/affiliates,” FIRST alleged. This spells fresh fresh trouble for Flipkart, which is which is preparing for a public listing on the local bourses. Through its B2B arm, Flipkart India, the firm supplies goods below the cost of procurement to a set of 33 preferred sellers, which in turn resell those goods on Flipkart’s marketplace at below-cost prices. “It is submitted that Flipkart has structured its operations to operate an inventory-based model in substance while presenting itself as a marketplace in form,” FIRST alleged in the complaint.Vinod Kumar, president at India SME Forum and founder trustee at FIRST, confirmed the CCI filing. “India SME Forum fully supports innovation, investment and the growth of e-commerce. At the same time, platform neutrality and equal opportunity for all sellers are essential if MSMEs are to fully realise the benefits of the govt’s reforms. Our representation before the CCI seeks an objective examination of these issues,” Kumar told TOI. The anti-competitive arrangements between Flipkart, Flipkart Group and Flipkart sellers are in contravention of Section 3(4) of the Competition Act. The abuse of dominant position by the company is in contravention of Section 4 of the Competition Act, FIRST said, seeking an investigation into the conduct of Flipkart Group and examination of the role of all entities involved in the conduct. “Foreclosure of access from the Flipkart marketplace platform effectively forecloses the access of these independent sellers to 60% of the e-commerce sector (in terms of GMV),” argued FIRST.For years, small traders have been protesting against the alleged unfair practices of online marketplace giants Flipkart and Amazon, pushing the govt to tweak FDI rules in e-commerce in 2018. In 2020, CCI initiated an investigation into alleged malpractices by Flipkart and Amazon India on a complaint filed by another trade body, Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, a matter in which no final order has been issued yet.Small retailers led by the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) are now also up against Flipkart and Amazon’s aggressive quick-commerce push, raising concerns over FDI policy compliance and deep discounting.

Navi Mumbai: An FIR was registered against a BJP councillor in Mahad, Suraj Bamane, and two of his aides for assaulting the chief officer (administrative head) of Mahad municipal council Dhananjay Kolekar over alleged non-resolution of the problem of a damaged underground water pipeline which caused disruption of water supply in the councillor’s ward.The alleged incident occurred in the cabin of the chief officer at the council headquarters in Mahad on Wed afternoon.API Nitin Mohite said, “The assault occurred after councillor Bamane (38) along with Kiran Patil (45) and Sagar Surve (28) questioned chief officer Kolekar for not resolving the water supply issue in his ward number 6. The water pipeline from Kurla dam had got damaged when the Mahad civic body was carrying out sludge excavation work. As damage to the pipeline had affected supply to councillor Bamane’s ward, causing inconvenience to residents, he argued with Kolekar and assaulted him along with Patil and Surve.”The three accused were booked for using criminal force against a public servant to deter them from performing their official duties and under other BNS sections.According to the FIR by Kolekar, Bamane accompanied by two men stormed into his cabin, and Bamane asked him why the water supply problem had not been resolved in his ward. As Kolekar said the issue was being looked into by the concerned department’s officials, Bamane demanded immediate resolution. While arguing with Kolekar, Bamane allegedly turned violent and with an umbrella repeatedly hit Kolekar on his head. One of Bamane’s aides joined him and hit Kolekar while hurling expletives at him, and another aide hurled abuses at the officer, grabbed his collar and punched him, the FIR stated.Following the incident, the council’s employees struck work by squatting in the council headquarters premises. The employees demanded immediate arrest of the BJP councillor and his aides and said the strike will not be withdrawn till the councillor is arrested.Narayan Ekshinge, senior police inspector of Mahad city said, “The three accused were not arrested but were served with a notice under provisions of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita directing them to co-operate in the police probe when summoned for inquiry and during court trial.”Shiv Sena’s Mahad MLA Bharat Gogawale said, “An elected representative assaulting a public servant should not be tolerated and stringent action should be taken by the concerned party’s leaders. Any issues related to civic amenities affecting citizens should be redressed by lodging complaints and not by resorting to violence.”

The fallen tree near the RTO office in Louiswadi where Pandurang Bhuvad was critically injured

Thane: A 64-year-old plumber who was critically injured after a roadside tree collapsed on him in Thane on Monday died during treatment on Thursday, becoming the first tree-fall casualty in Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) limits this monsoon. The death came a day after deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde announced “zero tolerance” towards rain-related fatalities in Thane and directed the civic administration to take immediate corrective measures.Shiv Sena corporator Vikas Repale said Pandurang Bhuvad suffered severe head and brain injuries after a tree fell on him near the RTO office in Louiswadi on Monday afternoon. He remained in critical condition for three days before succumbing to his injuries, he added.Bhuvad, the sole earning member of his family, is survived by his wife and four daughters. Neighbours said his daughters have been taking up odd jobs to support the household.“His wife, who had left home in the morning, called him around noon and asked him to return quickly due to the heavy rain. He had completed work at Vartak Nagar and was heading home when the tree fell on him,” said local Shiv Sena corporator Minal Sankhe. She has sought a job for a family member on compassionate grounds.Repale and Shiv Sena corporator Namrata Bhosale-Jadhav sought financial assistance from DCM Shinde for the bereaved family. Repale said Shiv Sena’s Thane unit would also provide financial support.The fatality has raised fresh concerns over tree safety in Thane city, with over 400 trees and 600 branches reportedly collapsing across the city during the recent spell of heavy rain, injuring three others, including a fireman.The incident also triggered a political row, with Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP accusing TMC’s garden department and tree authority of failing to conduct adequate pre-monsoon inspections and pruning of trees.“Scientific audits should have been conducted before the monsoon. Announcements after innocent lives are lost only show the apathy of the ruling party,” said Kedar Dighe, Thane president of Shiv Sena (UBT). BJP corporator Bharat Chavan alleged that over 28 lakh Thane residents faced the threat of falling trees and claimed fallen trees and branches still remained uncleared at several locations despite Shinde’s directives.Meanwhile, Mayor Sharmila Pimpalkar held a review meeting late Thursday, after which additional municipal commissioner Prashant Rode directed civic officials to complete surveys of dangerous trees and undertake urgent pruning or removal, wherever required.

A doctor from a municipal hospital medical college claimed that there is a 23% drop in blood available for thalassaemia patients

Mumbai: A 24-year-old youth has spent the last four days looking for six blood bags for his uncle, who is scheduled to undergo cardiac bypass surgery at a public hospital in the city. “I donated one unit of blood, but my friends who came as voluntary donors were turned down as they had recently got a tattoo,” he said. He then bought three bags from a private blood bank, but still needs two more bags.In another public hospital, Ramesh Shinde (name changed) was told to arrange four bags of blood for his father’s gastrointestinal surgery. “I made dozens of calls to various public blood banks, but none could spare any unit for me. I finally bought the four bags from a private blood bank and deposited it at the public hospital,” said Ramesh. Ideally, both should have got blood for free at the civic hospitals that their patients are admitted to.These are not the only family members facing hardships in arranging blood for their patient. In public hospitals, blood isn’t easy to access, said multiple family members.The demand for blood shoots up during rains, but the problem this time around, according to blood bank officials, is the recently ended scorching summer. “Many blood donation drives were rescheduled because of the heat wave. As a result, many banks don’t seem to have adequate stock,” said a doctor from a BMC-run hospital.Dr Suhas Mohnalkar from the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) said that Mumbai requires 1,100 bags of blood daily. “We manage to get to that number, but there could be individual banks that have shortages because they haven’t conducted blood drives on their own,” he said.A doctor from a municipal hospital medical college claimed that there is a 23% drop in blood available for thalassaemia patients. “Both BMC and state govt hospitals are not collecting enough blood for thalassaemia patients registered at the bank for free transfusion as mandated by the govt. Even accident and surgery patients find it difficult to get blood bags,” he said.The closure of the state-run JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank due to safety concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration has worsened the shortage, said an official. “Mahanagar bank would organise multiple camps that would help public hospitals,” he added. A state govt official said every blood bank can organise donation drives, but many are not doing so, putting patients and their families in distress.

The magistrate said that it could not be proved that the accused drove the car at a high speed, dashed the woman and caused her death, and left the spot without providing any medical help

Mumbai: Fourteen years after a Mulund homemaker, then aged 29, was accused of mowing down a senior citizen from a nearby slum who was napping in the open parking of her apartment complex, a magistrate’s court has acquitted her after key witnesses, including the deceased’s son-in-law who had filed the complaint, died during the trial’s pendency.Acquitting Neha Kapasi, who was out on bail, from the charges under the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act last week, the magistrate said, “As the complainant is dead, the complaint is not proved. Also, despite issuing witness summons from time to time to other eyewitnesses to the incident, prosecution did not keep them present and examine them. Reports of the nature that many witnesses do not reside at the given addresses have been submitted.”The magistrate further said that it could not be proved that Kapasi drove the car at a high speed, dashed into Kamalabai Gaikwad and caused her death, and left the spot without providing any medical help.It was the prosecution’s case that on November 10, 2012, around 2pm, Gaikwad’s son-in-law Mahadev Jadhav arrived at Trishala Apartment on P K Road in Mulund (W). She served him lunch and went to rest in the shade of an open parking space near the main gate. Soon after, a crowd began shouting and running toward the building. Jadhav rushed to the scene to find Gaikwad trapped under a white sedan, vomiting blood and severely injured. Kapasi was identified as the driver. Bystanders assisted in pulling Gaikwad from beneath the car, and Jadhav transported her in an autorickshaw to a local hospital before she was transferred to the ICU at Sion Hospital. Gaikwad succumbed to her injuries the following morning.Following the death, Jadhav lodged a complaint at Mulund police station. Kapasi was arrested on November 12, 2012, and was released on bail the same day. However, charges were framed against her in April 2025, and the recording of evidence did not commence until June this year.The investigating officer was the sole witness examined by the court. The prosecution submitted that Jadhav, and the two independent panch witnesses were dead. Other eyewitnesses could not be traced or failed to appear despite multiple summons.During cross-examination, the investigating officer accepted that no physical articles or evidence were seized from the accident spot. The officer further admitted that the deceased did not reside in the building, but lived in a nearby slum, noting that resting or sleeping in an active vehicle parking area posed a danger to life.

Navi Mumbai: Following the protest march by hundreds of PAPs from Panvel towards Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Mumbai, on Wednesday for the long-standing demand that Navi Mumbai International Airport be officially named after the farmers’ leader Late DB Patil, despite the police rejecting the permission, the Navi Mumbai police, after detaining around 300 protesting men and women, registered an FIR at Panvel City Police Station against them, including four persons who led the protest march.The accused named in the FIR are the young woman activist Rashmika Popeta, who launched an indefinite hunger strike from June 26 till July 4 for the airport name demand, her siblings Aditya Popeta and Abantika Popeta, and a social activist, Kantilal Kadu.Bala Kumbhar, senior inspector of Panvel City, said, “On Wednesday around 11 am, hundreds of PAPs gathered at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk in Panvel for starting protest march on Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Mumbai. The police permission was rejected after considering the red alert due to heavy rains, police commissioner’s prohibition order of assembly of more than five persons and the ongoing monsoon session at the state assembly. The citizens were requested not to participate in the protest march or else legal action would be taken against those defying the police order. Hence, for defying the police order, around 300 protesters were detained as several of them, including their leaders, created obstacles for traffic movement as they squatted on the road when the police force tried to disperse them. Some women, including activist Rashmita Popeta and her two siblings, vehemently protested. “The protestors were booked under relevant BNS sections and Maharashtra Police Act, including preventing public servants from performing their duty. However, as per the provision of the law, the accused were served with a notice under the provision of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and released on the same day.