Amazon was fined 1.13 billion euros ($1.28 billion) on Thursday by Italian antitrust regulators for abusing its market dominance.
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The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, or AGCM, said that Amazon had harmed competitors in the e-commerce logistics service.
It concluded that Amazon exploited its dominant position to encourage sellers on Amazon.it to use its own logistics service — Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
This was done "at the expense of logistics services offered by competing operators."
The AGCM said it would impose corrective measures that would be subject to review by a monitoring administrator.
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Amazon said it “strongly disagrees” with the fine and plans to appeal. “The proposed fine and remedies are unjustified and disproportionate,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC.
Amazon said that more than 50% of all annual sales on its platform in Italy come from small and medium-sized businesses, adding that their success is key to Amazon's business model.
Ruhell Amin, global head of retail equity research at William O'Neil + Co, told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe" on Thursday that this is a "significant" fine for the e-commerce giant.
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The company's concern is that the Italian fine could signal a broader trend toward tighter regulation of Amazon in other parts of its business, as well as in other parts of the world, Amin said. "This seems like the tip of the iceberg," he said.
Information source: cnbc.com
