The OP will hold “zero” readings of the bill on regulation of marketplaces

On November 20, the Public Chamber (PC) of Russia will hold “zero” readings of the bill on regulating the activities of marketplaces, which was submitted to the State Duma at the end of September by a group of deputies from the factions “United Russia”, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and “A Just Russia”.

Before the meeting, one of the authors of the bill, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artem Kiryanov (United Russia) sent a letter (the document is available to Vedomosti) to “owners and administrators of marketplaces, representatives of public and expert organizations in the field of online trading and protection of consumer rights”, in which he asked to send to him “proposals for making changes, additions and adjustments to the text of the bill.”

Kiryanov said that public councils under the Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service met, where the activities of marketplaces were generally discussed. “At the zero readings we will listen to the position of the industry, we will listen to the position of experts, the coordinating council [по развитию и безопасности электронной торговли] OP general part [предложений] will gather so that we take into account the positions of all parties when preparing the bill,” the deputy noted. According to him, the priority is to protect the rights of buyers and partners of electronic platforms. “Regulations should be no worse than for offline trading,” Kiryanov believes.

Another author of the bill, Yana Lantratova (A Just Russia – For Truth), told Vedomosti that as part of the preparation of the initiative, work is also underway with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and two meetings have already been held with the participation of representatives of marketplaces. “We have no goal of harming business, especially one that is so in demand. But first of all, we are focused and will defend the rights of people,” the deputy said. According to her, consumers must be protected from low-quality goods and counterfeit goods, especially for children’s items and toys.

A bill proposing amendments to the laws “On the fundamentals of state regulation of trade activities in the Russian Federation” and to Art. 12 and 18 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” was submitted to the State Duma on September 25, 2023. The document establishes the conceptual apparatus relating to trading platforms, as well as “the peculiarities of the functioning (relationship) of marketplace owners, sellers of goods on the marketplace and owners of pick-up points.”

“A series of events occurring in 2022 – 2023. events related to the actions of platform owners in relation to their partners, employees and consumers, which were actively covered in the media and resolved with the participation of State Duma deputies, showed the imperfection of the current system of regulation of the e-commerce industry,” the need for legislative regulation was explained in the explanatory note to the document.

The authors of the bill noted that marketplaces provide “information intermediation” services, and therefore are not responsible for the accuracy of information about the product, which can lead to a violation of consumer rights. The deputies also referred to the monitoring published in April 2021 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which described the main problems in this area. Among them is the ability of trading platforms to unilaterally change the terms of contracts, the amount of commissions, fines, etc.

Parliamentarians noted that marketplace owners should be required to publish open data on the website about the terms of contracts they enter into with sellers and pickup point owners. Transaction parameters can be changed, but not more than once a year. The parties must notify of their desire to change the provisions of the contract at least 30 calendar days before the expiration of the contract.

Deputies also proposed prohibiting marketplace owners from restricting access to personal accounts of sellers and pickup points. Also, online stores may be restricted from selling their own products with a turnover of over 150 billion rubles. if similar products are already on sale.

On October 23, the bill was included in the approximate program of the spring session of the State Duma in 2024.

I have already prepared my proposals for amendments Ozon, Vedomosti has reviewed the document. “We believe that the adoption of the bill will lead to the actual abolition of the marketplace business model, which is actively used by over 60 million buyers and 500,000 sellers throughout Russia (mainly small businesses),” the company believes.

IN Ozon note that the requirement to change the terms of contracts no more than once a year and in agreement with sellers and owners of pick-up points “is incompatible with the actual conduct of business”, since “coordination of the offer with each of them is objectively impossible and contradicts the meaning of the offer.” Other proposals from deputies Ozon are also considered unfeasible.

“We are in dialogue with all relevant ministries and authors of the document on the topic of the bill,” Vedomosti was told in Ozon. Discussion with market participants, according to the company, is an established practice that has repeatedly proven its effectiveness. “Such a discussion is necessary in order to take into account all the key risks from the current version of the document for the Russian e-commerce market,” concluded the Ozon.

Representative “Yandex. Marketa also noted that they are in dialogue with regulators and are discussing the wording of the bill. “Our priority is to create transparent and understandable conditions for the development of e-commerce, which will not create unnecessary barriers to the development of entrepreneurs, and will not reduce the quality of services for consumers,” he noted.

President of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) Artem Sokolov said that the organization will send its proposals. According to him, under conditions of severe restrictions, marketplaces will lose flexibility, which for this segment of the economy could mean a “freezing of business.” Sokolov added that some parts of the bill contradict “freedom of enterprise” and “sellers will suffer first of all from the rigid framework.”

Vedomosti sent inquiries to the Association of Electronic Commerce Market Participants (AUREC) and Wildberries.