According to Reuters, Italy’s antitrust watchdog on December 9 fined Amazon 1.13 billion euros (about 1.28 billion USD) for allegedly abusing its dominant market position. Amazon “completely disagrees” with the decision and will appeal.
Global regulatory scrutiny of major tech firms has grown in the wake of a series of misinformation and privacy scandals, along with complaints from some businesses that Big Tech has abuse of market power in business activities. Besides Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft are the US tech giants attracting strong scrutiny in Europe.
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| Amazon “completely disagrees” with the Italian watchdog fine and will appeal |
Italy’s antitrust watchdog says Amazon has abused its dominant position in Italy over intermediary services in the online marketplace, in favor of adopting its own logistics service Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). ). Amazon ties the use of FBA to a host of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, which helps increase visibility and drive sales on the Amazon.it e-commerce platform. The Prime Label makes it easier to sell to over 7 million top-spending and loyal users of Amazon’s loyalty program.
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“Amazon prevents third-party sellers from linking the Prime label to offers that are not regulated by FBA,” reads a statement from Italy’s antitrust watchdog.
However, according to Amazon, FBA is “a completely optional service” and the majority of third-party sellers on Amazon do not use it. “Sellers choose FBA because it’s efficient, convenient, and price competitive. The proposed fines and remedies are unreasonable and disproportionate,” Amazon said.
The European Union Commission (EU) said it was working closely with the Italian competition regulator on the case, within the framework of the European Competition Network, to ensure consistency with the two investigations. the commission’s ongoing investigation into Amazon’s business.
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