E-commerce unicorn Meesho has become embroiled in a legal dispute with its key technology partner, Amazon Web Services India Private Limited (AWS), as revealed in the company’s draft red-herring prospectus (DRHP).
The dispute centres on alleged unpaid cloud service dues amounting to ₹127.45 crore (approximately US $14.44 million) claimed by AWS under a Private Pricing Addendum (PPA) signed in February 2022.
According to the DRHP, AWS initiated arbitration proceedings under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, before a three-member arbitral tribunal in New Delhi.
The claim covers “spend commitment shortfall payment amount, pending service fees, interest on the respective payments and the cost of arbitration” tied to the special pricing agreement that Meesho entered into for cloud infrastructure and services.
Meesho has contested AWS’s claim, disputing the invoices and challenging the enforceability of the minimum-commitment clause in the PPA.
The company has alleged “deficiencies in the services provided by AWS” and argued that the contractual minimum spend commitment should not bind it under the terms of the addendum.
In a counter-move, Meesho filed a counterclaim on January 31 2025 for ₹86.49 crore, attributing the amount to business losses “due to disruption of business and inadequate support provided by AWS, salary costs incurred due to migration from services procured from AWS, along with interest and costs.”
AWS responded with its reply in March 2025, and the proceedings before the arbitral tribunal remain pending.
The arbitration dispute occurs at a critical juncture for Meesho, which is gearing up for one of India’s most anticipated tech initial public offerings (IPO) in 2026.
The DRHP indicates that the company plans to raise fresh funds of about ₹4,250 crore, of which approximately ₹1,390 crore is earmarked for strengthening technology and cloud infrastructure, among other strategic investments.
Beyond the AWS arbitration, the DRHP outlines a broader portfolio of legal and financial challenges for Meesho.
The company faces tax and vendor disputes aggregating more than ₹710 crore, including a tax demand of ₹572 crore. These proceedings are cited in its filing as key diligence points for investors.
Meesho processes a large volume of transactions — it recorded 1.59 billion orders in the financial year ended March 2025 — and its business model relies heavily on cloud-based systems for operations, payments, recommendation engines, and fulfilment services.
The arbitration dispute thus underscores both the company’s operational dependence on AWS and the potential cost and risk implications of a conflict with a major cloud provider.
While Meesho remains cash-flow positive and among India’s fastest-growing e-commerce platforms, the arbitration with AWS and its broader litigation exposure are likely to feature prominently in investor disclosures and regulatory scrutiny as the IPO process advances.
The company acknowledges in its DRHP that any adverse outcome of the AWS dispute could have a material impact on its business and operating model.
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