Amazon: Stricter rules for shipping giants

On July 7, 2022By Garmin Philip

The Federal Cartel Office takes a close look

Amazon is under special scrutiny due to its supremacy in the mail order business. This means stricter rules for the company.

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Special regulations have been in effect for the shipping giant Amazon since Tuesday. That Federal Cartel Office announced that the company is under special abuse controlwhich among other things with tightened rules comes along.

The reason for this is the monopoly position that Amazon occupies in the mail order business. The Bundeskartellamt found that Amazon’s competitive position was not being adequately controlled and that the company “cross-market scope for action” open.

For five years Amazon should now be under special supervision. This is to prevent Amazon from making access and success in online trading more difficult for competing companies in order to secure its own position. The basis of the restrictions is the new one Act against Restraints of Competition, which was decided in 2021. Because of this, other companies such as Google and their Google Maps app have already been checked.

In addition to Amazon’s supremacy in e-commerce, the Bundeskartellamt is also critical of other offers such as Prime Video or Amazon Web Services, as these continue to bind customers to the company and cross-service data collect about these.

“Amazon is the central key player in the field of e-commerce. The group’s offers as a retailer, marketplace, streaming and cloud provider, among other things, are connected to form a digital ecosystem. In concrete terms, this decision means that we at Amazon specifically address and prevent potentially anti-competitive behavior more effectively than was previously the case,” said Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office.

Amazon, on the other hand, sees itself primarily as a retailers and puts their influence on the e-commerce sector into perspective. They do not agree with the Bundeskartellamt’s decision and will “Carefully consider options, including legal remedies”according to a spokesman for the company.

consumer protection

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