The OnePlus offline sales ban could spread across India

OnePlus may have suffered a significant blow after an association representing retail chains in southern India announced it would no longer sell OnePlus products from May 1. However, it sounds like this sales ban could extend to the rest of India.

The All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), which represents over 150,000 offline smartphone retailers in India, has told OnePlus that its members might stop selling OnePlus products.

By contrast, the South Indian Organized Retailers Association (ORA), which announced its sale ban from May 1, represents 4,300 offline retailers. So AIMRA’s sales ban would have a much bigger impact and could effectively translate into a total offline sales ban across the country.

Why do Indian retailers want to drop OnePlus?

AIMRA sent a letter to OnePlus, a copy of which was seen by Android Authority. In it, the group expressed support for ORA’s decision to stop selling OnePlus products.

“We may also stop the OnePlus business across India if issues are unresolved as the situation remains worse in the general mainline trade with no solace and deliveries on commitments (sic),” read an excerpt of the letter.

The group also revealed the reasons for its threat:

For years, OnePlus India has neglected mainline retailers by failing to provide adequate stocks, offering poor margins, settling claims poorly, failing to deliver commitments and lacking a meaningful relationship with retailers in India (no demos, no promoters, no market visits overall, no SOPs) demonstrating neglect.

The association also alleged that OnePlus was selling products through “illegitimate channels to inflate numbers.”

We’ve contacted OnePlus for comment on the matter and what consumers should do in the event that offline sales are pulled. We haven’t heard from the company as of publication.