IPO-Bound Meesho Faces Rs 127 Crore Arbitration Claim: Here’s What DRHP Says About Dispute With AWS

E-commerce unicorn Meesho is embroiled in a legal dispute with Amazon Web Services (AWS) India, a crucial technology partner, over allegations of unpaid cloud service charges. This conflict revolves around claims by AWS that Meesho has defaulted on payments, while Meesho contests these pending dues, citing issues with the services.

As outlined in Meesho’s draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), AWS has launched arbitration proceedings before a three-member panel in New Delhi under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of 1996. The case pertains to alleged outstanding payments linked to a Private Pricing Addendum (PPA) agreed signed in February 2022.

AWS has claimed Rs 127.45 crore ($14.44 million) from Meesho. This includes “spend commitment shortfall payment amount, pending service fees, interest on the respective payments and the cost of arbitration.”

Meesho has contested the invoices, claiming “deficiencies in the services provided by AWS”. It has also challenged the validity of the minimum commitment clause in the PPA.

The leading e-commerce platform filed a counterclaim worth Rs 86.49 crore on Jan. 31, 2025, and highlighted 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 in March and the matter is currently under the adjudication of the arbitral tribunal.

The dispute underscores Meesho’s heavy dependence on cloud infrastructure to power its extensive value-commerce platform. It supports everything from order processing to payments and personalised recommendations. A conflict with a key cloud service provider like AWS could affect both the company’s operations and its costs, particularly for a business that handled 1.59 billion orders in the financial year 2025.

The Softbank-backed online marketplace filed an updated DRHP for its IPO last week. Meesho’s DRHP says that the company intends to dedicate Rs 1,390 crore from its forthcoming Rs 4,250-crore IPO to bolster its technology and cloud infrastructure.

The AWS arbitration is just one among several legal hurdles faced by Meesho ahead of the IPO. It is also dealing with tax and vendor disputes exceeding Rs 710 crore. This includes a significant income tax demand amounting to Rs 572 crore.

The proposed initial public offering (IPO) consists of a fresh issuance of equity shares amounting to Rs 4,250 crore, alongside an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 1,75,696,602 shares.