3.3-million-euro fine for Amazon in France

Amazon must pay 3.3 million euros fine in France icon General8 December, 2022 The French market authorities have fined Amazon 3.3 million euros, as it saw unfair terms in its contracts with platform sellers, and Amazon adjusted them too late.

90,000 euros fine per day

French fraud authorities are imposing a new fine on Amazon: the US e-commerce giant has to pay 3.3 million euros, or 90,000 euros per day the company was in breach. Since a recent French law allows the imposition of penalty payments of up to 1 % of a company’s global turnover, the fraud agency decided to use that new weapon for the first time.

Indeed, in an investigation into contracts between sellers on Amazon’s marketplace and the platform, the French competition watchdog found “unbalanced clauses” that would favour Amazon and violate platform rules adopted by the European Union in 2019.

At the end of December 2021, the Americans were given until 22 March at the latest to adjust the French contracts, but it did not finally do so until a month later – on 28 April. Amazon had nevertheless been warned in advance that a fine of 90,000 euros per day of delay was imminent.

Second conviction

This is not the first time Amazon has been convicted of similar practices. In 2019, the company was already fined four million euros by the Paris Commercial Court because of the contracts. France was also one of the first countries to vote a so-called anti-Amazon law, which limits the power of large platforms. Currently, the country is still seeking to ban free delivery for books to give physical bookshops more chances.

Amazon opposes not only the fine, but also the market watchdog’s original findings and conclusions. The e-commerce giant is therefore challenging each of these in court.