Karimi and Associates Law Firm presents according to Jurist:
Italy’s competition authority (AGCM), announced that it fined Amazon € 1,128 billion ($1.28 billion) for harming its dominating market position and damaging competitors in the e-commerce logistics industry. The AGCM claimed that Amazon provides merchants who use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), with advantages in terms of visibility and sales, including access to Amazon’s “Prime” label.
According to the commission, Amazon took advantage in Italy to create and advertise its own logistical services which supposedly caused harm to competitors in the e-commerce logistics services market.
According to AGCM, third-party sellers who use FBA versus their own logistics stack, do not receive the same treatment and they are eligible to join Amazon Prime. Prime products are subsequently included in Amazon’s events, such as Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Amazon declared to Engadget that the company “strongly disagreed” with the judgment and would appeal. It also mentioned that non-FBA merchants can use its Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) service, which provides Prime benefits without requiring them to use Amazon’s logistics.
Amazon was also fined a record €746 million by the EU for violating the bloc’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws.