FAS demanded that Wildberries eliminate violations in the conditions for sellers

Having achieved a softening of the moratorium on antimonopoly inspections of IT companies, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) took active action. The agency issued Wildberries, the largest player in the online trading market, a warning about the need to eliminate violations in the conditions for sellers. Changes in the offer account for 50% of complaints from entrepreneurs working on marketplaces, and the development of the rules of the game will continue, experts say.

Wildberries must comply with the FAS warning regarding conditions for sellers by May 15, 2024, FAS told Kommersant. Service on Tuesday, April 9 statedthat the Wildberries offer contains clauses that have signs of imposing unfavorable conditions, tariffs for logistics and storage are subject to almost daily changes, and fines for sellers whose personal accounts are hacked by third parties are disproportionate. If the warning is not complied with, the FAS added, the service has the right to initiate a case for violation of antimonopoly legislation.

According to Data Insight, in 2022 Wildberries ranked first in terms of revenue among online stores with online sales of 1.61 trillion rubles. In the first half of 2023, turnover from sales of goods and services at Wildberries increased by 94%, to 1.22 trillion rubles. year on year, the company reported.

The FAS warning to Wildberries was the first such action by the service in the online trading market after a partial lifting the moratorium for antimonopoly inspections of IT companies on March 28, 2024.

In January of this year, the head of the FAS, Maxim Shaskolsky, reported that the FAS had established the collective dominant position of Wildberries and Ozon in the market, noting that marketplaces were receiving complaints from consumers and counterparties regarding logistics costs, imposing contract terms, and charging fines.

Wildberries said they would study the FAS warning upon admission. They added that they “previously listened to the recommendations of the service in a voluntary self-regulation regime,” and are now restructuring practices so that internal processes correspond to the status of one of the dominant market players. Ozon and Yandex Market declined to comment.

General Director of the ANO “Digitalization and New Technologies”, member of the public council under the FAS, Alexey Kozhevnikov, says that about 50% of all sellers’ questions to marketplaces relate to changes in offer contracts and conditions, another 50% – to the movement of goods.

So, according to him, now sites can issue invoices to sellers several days after delivery of goods to the warehouse, which creates risks if controversial situations arise. In general, Mr. Kozhevnikov notes, the institution of self-regulation in the online trading market does not work, and the dubious practices of one company can be adopted by competitors if they see no consequences.

Anastasia Kayukova, head of antitrust and regulatory projects at Vegas Lex, emphasizes that a warning in itself does not indicate the presence of a violation, but only signs, and it is still difficult to assess the likelihood of initiating a case. Forward Legal lawyer Evgeniy Zubkov notes that the FAS may decide to initiate a case based on the implementation of the warning, as well as the actions taken by the company to this end. According to Ms. Kayukova, the maximum amount of liability for imposing unfavorable terms of the contract is a turnover fine. If a case is initiated, she adds, Wildberries may try to challenge the decision.

President of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT; includes Wildberries, Ozon, Yandex Market, etc.) Artem Sokolov says that the topic of changing the offer was repeatedly considered at the commission on creating conditions for self-regulation of e-commerce under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where the issues mainly related to not the frequency of changes, but the composition of changes. In general, he notes, the warning mechanism is much more effective than creating regulation with consequences for all market participants.

Senior analyst at Gazprombank Marat Ibragimov notes that given the rapid development of online trading, additional adjustments to the rules of the game will continue, including with the participation of government agencies. According to him, it is unlikely that targeted measures can significantly affect the development of the market. According to AKIT, in 2023, online trade turnover in the Russian Federation increased by 28% year-on-year, to RUB 6.35 trillion.

Anatoly Kostyrev