Proactive Investors - Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN, ETR:AMZ) has been fined €10 million (US$10.7 million) by Italy’s antitrust regulator after it alleged it had been engaging in unfair business practices.
Italy’s competition watchdog said the fines for two of Amazon’s subsidiaries come after it “significantly restricted consumers' freedom of choice” by having an automatic “Subscribe and Save” function on its website.
Subscribe and Save is a tool on Amazon applicable to a range of products which allows buyers to receive routine and scheduled orders of products at a discount.
However, the Italian authority alleged that by pre-setting of Subscribe and Save for certain products significantly affected consumer purchases.
"The pre-ticking of recurring purchase induces one to periodically buy a product - even without the effective need - thus limiting one's freedom of choice," the watchdog said.
Amazon said it would appeal the decision and claims the program allows customers to save “money and time on regular deliveries of items they routinely use.”
The e-commerce giant added the Subscribe and Save option allowed consumers to save over €40 million since it launched in Italy.