Indonesia probing Shopee, Lazada units for alleged competition rule breaches

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's anti-trust agency said on Monday it is investigating the local units of e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada for suspected violations of anti-competition rules.

The companies are PT Shopee Internasional Indonesia, and PT Ecart Webportal Indonesia, which oversee the domestic operations of Shopee and Lazada respectively.

The agency did not elaborate on what the alleged breaches of anti-competition rules were.

Shopee, owned by Southeast Asian technology firm Sea Ltd, and Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The agency's hearing into the conduct of Shopee would start on Tuesday, it said, without giving details of a potential punishment.

The agency found early evidence of violations by Lazada, which it said is facing a maximum fine of 50% of its net profits or 10% of its sales earned during the time of the alleged breaches.

"There are indications Lazada has undertaken discriminative actions that potentially inhibit competition and indications that its actions have been harmful to consumers," the agency said.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Additional reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Martin Petty)