Amazon faces UK investigation over anti-competitive concerns
The Hindu
Britain’s competition watchdog is investigating whether Amazon is giving an unfair advantage to merchants that pay for extra services
Britain’s competition watchdog is investigating whether Amazon is harming competition and hurting consumers by giving an unfair advantage to merchants that pay for extra services.
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The Competition and Markets Authority’s formal investigation said Wednesday that it will look into concerns that the ecommerce giant is abusing its dominance to undermine rivals, echoing similar investigations carried out by the European Union’s executive Commission and Germany’s antitrust agency.
Amazon said it will work closely with the CMA during the investigation.
“We believe we’ve always worked hard to help small businesses selling on Amazon to succeed, which is in both their and our best interests,” the company said. “We remain proud of the continued support we provide to businesses of all sizes across the U.K.”
While Amazon supplies some of the products that it sells online, many others are from third-party merchants and retailers, and provides them with essential services to make sales.
The Markets Authority said it will consider whether Amazon gives an unfair edge to merchants using optional services that cost extra, including storage, packaging and delivery.