Italian Competition Authority fines Amazon 10 million euros
The Italian Competition Authority (Antitrust-AGCM) has fined the US-based online retail platform Amazon 10 million euros, citing unfair commercial practices.
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In a written statement issued by the Competition Authority, it was noted that on Amazon's website in Italy, the purchase option for many products was set to "recurring periodic purchase" by default instead of "one-time purchase," which significantly restricted consumer choices and encouraged consumers to buy products even when they did not actually need them.
The authority announced that it has imposed a 10 million euro fine on Amazon for this reason.
It was noted that Amazon's subsidiaries, Luxembourg-based Amazon Services Europe and Amazon EU, were also affected by the fine.
According to a report by the Italian news agency ANSA, Amazon intends to appeal the fine. It was emphasized that the company disagrees with the decision, arguing that customers save money through the "Subscribe & Save" program that was the subject of the fine.