Marketplace imposes unfavorable contract terms on sellers
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) issued a warning to Wildberries – the largest Russian online trading platform. The marketplace needs to amend the agreement for the sale of goods on the Wildberries website, and also stop «practices that contain signs of violation of antitrust laws».
In the period from 2022 to 2023, the FAS Russia received a large number of appeals from citizens and organizations. The department conducted an inspection and came to the conclusion that the agreement for the sale of goods on the Wildberries website contains signs of imposing unfavorable conditions on sellers.
The service found that the company’s tariffs for logistics and storage services are subject to almost daily changes. This can significantly affect sellers and the conditions for conducting their activities on the marketplace. The terms of the site regarding the imposition of penalties on sellers whose personal accounts were hacked by third parties are disproportionate.
The marketplace also sets restrictions when posting sellers’ contact information. In addition, the conditions for changing the company's tariffs for logistics services and storage of goods, and the conditions for imposing penalties on sellers for unauthorized access to their personal accounts have not been determined.
Now the FAS demands that the detected violations be eliminated. The department emphasized that the changes should not lead to worsening conditions for sellers. In case of non-compliance, the FAS has the right to initiate a case for violation of antimonopoly legislation.