Italy’s antitrust regulator fined the tech giant Amazon $1.2bn for abusing its market dominance. The authority claimed that Amazon is promoting its own logistics service, Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) which needs to review. This is the second time this month, Amazon has been fined by Italian regulators.
The regulator of Italy said that Amazon put third-party sellers at a disadvantage position. They claimed that Amazon is using its service to access key benefits and events. The regulator said, “Amazon has thus prevented third-party sellers from associating the Prime label with offers not managed with FBA.”
Recently Amazon promotes FBA services to access key benefits. Amazon is selling products with Prime delivery. It allows the customers to receive products at no extra cost. The services were available during this Black Friday sales. However, Amazon “strongly disagree” with the Italian regulator’s decision and said that they will appeal.
Amazon said in a statement, “We strongly disagree with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority and we will appeal.” It also stated, “Small and medium-sized businesses have multiple channels to sell their products both online and offline: Amazon is just one of those options. We constantly invest to support the growth of the 18,000 Italian SMBs [small and medium-sized businesses] that sell on Amazon, and we provide multiple tools to our sellers, including those who manage shipments themselves.”