The German competition authority Bundeskartellamt announced on Tuesday that it is launching new proceedings against US e-commerce giant Amazon under new competition rules
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2021) The German competition authority Bundeskartellamt announced on Tuesday that it is launching new proceedings against US e-commerce giant Amazon under new competition rules.
According to the authority, in January, the 10th amendment to the German Competition Act came into force, allowing the Bundeskartellamt to act more effectively on major digital companies. Among the practices prohibited under the new rules are self-preferencing of a firm's own services, raising barriers to market entry, and penetrating non-dominated markets by anti-competitive means.
"The Bundeskartellamt has today initiated a proceeding against Amazon based on the new rules for large digital companies. It is the second proceeding that the Bundeskartellamt has opened based on the new competition law tool," the Bundeskartellamt said in a statement.
The authority is already conducting two proceedings based on the rules that were in place before the latest change to the law.
"In this particular case we are first of all examining whether Amazon is of paramount significance for competition across markets. An ecosystem which extends across various markets and thus constitutes an almost unchallengeable position of economic power is particularly characteristic in this respect. This could apply to Amazon with its online marketplaces and many other, above all digital offers. If we find that the company does have such a market position, we could take early action against and prohibit possible anti-competitive practices by Amazon," Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt said.
In recent years, Amazon, along with other big tech companies like Apple and Google, has been under scrutiny of competition authorities of EU countries for alleged unlawful business practices.
