Amazon’s request to overturn a €1.13 billion fine has been suspended by an Italian court

An Italian court stayed a ruling on e-commerce giant Amazon’s request to overturn a record 1.13 billion euro (nearly Rs 9,300 crore) fine imposed by Italy’s antitrust watchdog for alleged abuse of market dominance, a court ruling showed on Friday.

The Italian administrative court TAR del Lazio said it had suspended its decision pending a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the case.

A legal source said the EU court could rule on the current case before next summer.

Last year, the Italian competition watchdog ruled that Amazon had used its dominant position in the Italian market for marketplace brokerage services to favor the adoption of its own logistics service by sellers active on Amazon.

He subsequently imposed one of the highest penalties on a US tech giant in Europe.

An Amazon spokesperson reiterated that the company strongly disagrees with the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) and will continue to emphasize its position during the legal proceedings.

“More than half of all Amazon’s annual sales in Italy come from small and medium-sized businesses. We have 20,000 Italian SMEs selling on Amazon, including self-managed sellers, and we are constantly investing to support their growth,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The guard declined to comment.

After the fine was imposed, Amazon said it “strongly disagrees” with the Italian regulator’s decision and will appeal.

Meanwhile, the authority said that Amazon is linked to the use of FBA access to a range of exclusive benefits, including the Prime label, which help increase visibility and increase sales on Amazon.

“Amazon does not allow third-party sellers to associate the Prime label with offers that are not managed by FBA,” it said.

On the other hand, Amazon said that FBA “is a completely optional service” and that the majority of third-party sellers on Amazon do not use it.

“When sellers choose FBA, they do so because it is efficient, convenient and cost-competitive,” the US group said in a statement.

© Thomson Reuters 2022