US e-commerce giant Amazon, which is said to be investigating alleged bribes paid by its legal representatives in India, spent a staggering Rs 8,546 crore or USD 1.2 billion in legal expenses for maintaining a presence in the country during 2018-20, sources said.

Sources aware of the firm's public account filings said entities of Amazon - including Amazon Retail India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd, Amazon Transportation Services Pvt Ltd, Amazon Wholesale (India) Pvt Ltd, and Amazon Internet Services Pvt Ltd (AWS) - paid Rs 3,420 crore in India during 2018-19 and Rs 5,126 crore during 2019-20 towards legal fees. Amazon is locked in a legal tussle over the takeover of Future Group and is facing a probe by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

While the company declined to comment on the legal fee issue, traders body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) claimed that Amazon spending 20 percent of its revenue on lawyers was questionable. "The whopping amount spent under legal professional fees clearly shows how Amazon and its subsidiaries are misusing their financial muscles to bribe and manipulate Indian government officials," CAIT National Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal wrote to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

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