The Italian Antitrust Authority said
Wednesday that it has fined Amazon 10 million euros for unfair
trade practices.
It said the case regards the fact that 'recurring purchase'
option is pre-set for a wide range of products on the
www.amazon.it website, rather than the one-time-purchase
setting.
The authority said this was true both for items sold directly by
Amazon and third parties who sell products via its marketplace
platform.
"The pre-ticking of the recurring purchase icon induces one to
periodically buy a product - even without an actual need - thus
limiting choice," the authority said. "Furthermore, the conduct
implemented by the group was deemed to be in conflict with
professional diligence standards because an operator of Amazon's
importance is required to build online interfaces for purchasing
processes that allow consumers to make free, conscious
commercial choices".
The authority said two companies belonging to the group had been
fined - the Luxembourg-based Amazon Services Europe and Amazon
EU.
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