Austria: Gov may join Amazon “dual role” probe

Austrian retailers have filed a complaint against Amazon with their national competition authority over the US e-commerce giant’s dual role as a retailer and a marketplace.

The European Commission and Germany’s antitrust authority are also looking into Amazon’s role in the market. “We have received a complaint. We are examining it,” a spokeswoman for Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (BWB) said, confirming a statement by the Austrian Retail Association.

The main grounds for the complaint laid out by Austria’s biggest retailers’ association is Amazon’s role as both a retailer in its own right and as a marketplace where other retailers’ products are sold. Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported it had documents showing that the BWB would open an investigation into Amazon.

Full Content: Global Competition Review

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