MOSCOW, June 27 The State Duma adopted a law imposing antitrust restrictions on digital platforms — marketplaces and aggregators — in order to prevent abuse of dominant position by their owners.
The document is included in the so-called «fifth antimonopoly package», which concerns the improvement of antitrust regulation of digital markets. The changes proposed in it will make it possible to detect anti-market actions and cartel agreements of large marketplaces and aggregators, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin explained earlier.
The law defines the criteria for classifying large digital platforms as dominant entities, while simultaneously introducing the concept of «network effect». It is understood as a property of the commodity market, in which the consumer value of a digital platform changes depending on the change in the number of sellers and buyers making transactions through it.
A ban is introduced on the abuse of dominant position for the owners of digital platforms, whose network effect makes it possible to exert a decisive influence on the general conditions for the circulation of goods on the market and impede access to it, the share of transactions through which in a certain commodity market is more than 35%, and the revenue exceeds 2 billion rubles a year. The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia will establish the existence of a network effect and assess the capabilities of economic entities owning digital platforms to have a decisive influence on the general conditions for the circulation of goods.
In addition, a new condition is being established for antimonopoly control over transactions of economic concentration in commodity markets. Transactions worth more than 7 billion rubles will be coordinated with the FAS. At the same time, changes are being made regarding the conduct of an examination in the implementation of state control over compliance with antimonopoly legislation and clarifying the requirements for experts.
The law will have to come into force on September 1, 2023.