Amazon accused of unfair pricing policies by Washington DC

Amazon is being sued by Washington DC over allegations it abuses its position as a retail giant.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, claims that Amazon’s control of up to 70% of US online sales results in higher prices for consumers.

“Amazon’s online retail sales platform benefits from, and is protected by, Amazon’s anticompetitive business practices,” it said.

Amazon said that the lawsuit “has it exactly backwards”.

Filed by Karl Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit accuses Amazon of charging third-party sellers on its site fees of up to 40% of a product’s price, as well as stopping them from charging less on other platforms.

It says: “Far from enabling consumers to obtain the best products at the lowest prices, Amazon instead causes prices across the entire online retail sales market to be artificially inflated, both for products sold on Amazon’s online retail sales platform and on its competitors’ online retail sales platforms.”

An Amazon spokesperson said in response: “The DC Attorney General has it exactly backwards – sellers set their own prices for the products they offer in our store.

“Amazon takes pride in the fact that we offer low prices across the broadest selection, and like any store we reserve the right not to highlight offers to customers that are not priced competitively.”

The lawsuit seeks to stop Amazon from using “anti-competitive” practices and calls for damages and some remedies. But it will only apply to violations of the rules in the District of Columbia itself.

Amazon added that the relief sought would force it “to feature higher prices to customers, oddly going against core objectives of antitrust law.” – bbc.com