Paytm accuses Snapdeal of stealing its business data! Could it be right?

Snapdeal has been in trouble a lot these days. They have managed to infuriate their online sellers through wrongful penalties. They hurt religious sentimentsand agitated sellers even more by stealing their profits with incorrect shipping charges.

Call it bad luck or whatever you like because the leading marketplace has found itself in some more trouble. But with another marketplace this time! Paytm has filed a law suit against ecommerce management software and fulfillment solutions provider, Unicommerce, which Snapdeal happens to own. The lawsuit has been filed in the Delhi high court, revealed sources with knowledge of the case.

Why the Legal Action?

Ecommerce platform and online payment service provider Paytm has accused Unicommerce of accessing it’s confidential  business data. Paytm claims they acquired access to this data on their ecommerce platform through online sellers. Paytm also accused the software provider of using its logo and name without authorized permission.

Marketplace Rivalry

Tensions are growing among rival marketplaces as the online retail competition gets more intense. Just last month cab aggregators Uber and Ola went to court because Uber claimed that its rival created fake rider accounts on its platform to falsely book cabs. Uber incurred monumental losses; they said and in a petition demanded declaration, perpetual injunction and damages against the accused!

Snapdeal and Paytm compete against each other in the business of online payments and as online marketplaces too. Paytm started off as an online payment platform then with support from foreign marketplace, Alibaba, tried its hand at online selling. Snapdeal on the other hand grew as an online marketplace then ventured into the online payment business once it acquired Freecharge.

Snapdeal gained ownership over Unicommerce last year. This shows us why Paytm is so concerned about its business data. The information marketplaces provide to sellers is confidential. So they expect it to be kept secret. The data in question could be anything from valuable insights on consumer behavior, financial information or sensitive company related data that could cripple the plaintiff’s online operations, should it fall into a competitor’s hands.

When asked for a comment neither of the three parties involved said anything about the matter. However, what we do know is, the hearing has been set for Thursday.