The Bangalore Milk Union Limited (BAMUL), which markets dairy products under the Nandini brand, has urged the Prime Minister to order an investigation into deep discounting of milk by quick commerce platforms, warning that such practices could harm dairy farmers and cooperative institutions.
In a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BAMUL President and former MP D. K. Suresh expressed concern over a promotional campaign by Flipkart through its quick commerce service Flipkart Minutes offering milk at Re 1 for half a litre as part of a customer acquisition drive.
Suresh stated that milk is a livelihood-linked agricultural commodity produced daily by millions of small farmers and that such extreme below-cost pricing appears commercially unviable. He argued that the strategy could amount to predatory pricing under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.
BAMUL has requested the Competition Commission of India to investigate whether deep discounting of essential commodities is distorting fair competition, undermining cooperative dairy institutions, and threatening the income security of farmers and small retailers.