The Indian government is reportedly planning to investigate allegations that Amazon’s legal representatives bribed officials in the country. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter following a media report that the US e-commerce giant has initiated an investigation into the conduct of its legal representatives in India. Quoting two people “who work closely with Amazon’s in-house legal team”, The Morning Context website reported that a senior corporate counsel at Amazon had been sent on leave.

NDTV reported that government officials had stressed a “zero-tolerance” policy towards corruption, while pointing out that Amazon had spent more than INR8,500 crore in legal fees in two years, according to public accounts of some Amazon companies.

“It’s time to think where all it is going. The whole system seems to work on bribes and that is not the best of business practices,” said government officials,” the officials said.

However, it is not clear “which era” the bribes were offered in, and in which state.

The Morning Context report said that legal fees paid to an independent lawyer hired by the company was in part “funnelled into bribing government officials.”

An Amazon spokesperson told news agency PTI that the company took allegations of improper actions seriously, and will investigate them fully for appropriate action. “We are not commenting on specific allegations or the status of any investigation at this time,” the spokesperson said.

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PTI quoted an unnamed source as saying that US-headquartered companies like Amazon take whistleblower complaints seriously, “especially those related to payment of bribes to foreign government officials in order to retain or obtain business”. This is also to ensure compliance with corporate governance rules.

Meanwhile, the CAIT has written to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal demanding a CBI inquiry into the allegations against Amazon.

CAIT said it would also approach the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler to demand a “fair and independent probe.”

Amazon is already facing an anti-trust probe by the Competition Commission of India over unfair trading practices and other allegations.