Amazon Plans Appeal Following $1.3B Fine in Italian Antitrust Case

Amazon said it would appeal a $1.3 billion fine from Italy’s antitrust regulator after the eCommerce giant was found to favor third-party sellers that use its logistics services, according to a statement from the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) on Thursday (Dec. 9).

In addition to the fine, the watchdog ordered Amazon to offer listings from third-party sellers that were fair and nondiscriminatory. A trustee will be appointed to oversee the listings.

See also: Italian Antitrust Authority Fines Amazon and Apple $225M+

ICA said Amazon favored merchants that paid to use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and offered perks like access to the marketplace’s 7 million-plus Amazon Prime customers, complete with free one-day shipping, the regulator concluded. Vendors using FBA were also granted access to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day.

“The investigation found that these are functions of the Amazon.it platform that are crucial for the success of sellers and for increasing their sales,” the ICA said.

The Italian antitrust regulator can levy fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue. A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that could be the biggest one that the regulator ever imposed.

Read more: Report: Amazon Hopes to Settle EU Antitrust Cases

Amazon said the fine was “unjustified and disproportionate” and vowed to appeal to a higher court.

Third-party sellers are a revenue stream Amazon said it relies upon and as such, it is invested in their profitability. Most sellers don’t use its FBA services, Amazon said, and those that do are in it for the function and cost.

Regulators, however, allege that third-party sellers can struggle to meet Amazon’s requirements to get a better marketplace position. As a result, sellers might have no choice but to use Amazon’s FBA services.

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The European Union is also going after Amazon in a similar investigation. Last year, the bloc filed antitrust charges against Amazon, accusing the tech giant of using nonpublic data from third-party sellers to compete against them. Amazon said it did nothing wrong.