Restrictions on Marketplaces

The 2022 amendment by Law No. 7416 introduced a series of restrictions to prevent marketplaces from using their market power against sellers and competitors. These rules complement the competition law prohibition on abuse of dominance.

The Own-Brand Ban

A marketplace may not offer for sale, or intermediate the sale of, goods bearing its own brand or that of persons in its economic unit, or brands it has the right to use, regardless of who manufactures them, on the marketplace it operates. The ban has applied since 1 January 2024. Marketplaces earning more than half of their total sales revenue from non-e-commerce sales are exempt.

Data Use and Portability

• A marketplace may not use data obtained from sellers in a way that competes with those sellers.
• It must enable sellers to transfer, free of charge and effectively, their sales and return data, product descriptions and images, questions, answers and reviews, and performance scores; see Consumer Reviews.

Unfair Commercial Practices towards Sellers

Practices that significantly harm sellers’ commercial activities are prohibited. Practices deemed unfair in all circumstances include forcing sellers into campaign sales, unilateral or retroactive changes to the intermediary agreement, demoting a seller in rankings without objective criteria, and delaying payments to sellers.

Scale-Based Limits

Large and very large marketplaces by net transaction volume are subject to limits on advertising and discount budgets. Very large marketplaces may not carry out goods transport and postal services other than for sales on their own sites; if they offer listing services, they may not allow sales contracts in the same environment, and they may offer certain payment services only through licensed institutions.