Given the development of new technologies and in pursuance of the instruction to improve antitrust regulation in the digital economy, which was given by the President of the Russian Federation in the National Plan for the Development of Competition for 2018-2020, the FAS Russia has prepared new legislative initiatives to amend the Law on the Protection of Competition and the Code Of the Russian Federation on administrative offences ("the fifth antimonopoly package").
The
digitalization of the economy, in addition to benefits, also carries
risks associated with the monopolization of commodity markets, the
possibility of abuse of market power by "digital giants" to the
detriment of the interests of consumers.
Currently, the growth
of the economic power of digital platforms requires legislators not
only in Russia but also in other countries to determine the rules and
requirements for their activities. Similar initiatives are being
considered and discussed in many countries around the world.
Within
the framework of the "fifth antimonopoly package", the FAS Russia
proposes to prohibit various forms of abuse by digital giants.
The
current version of the Fifth Antimonopoly Package also takes into
account "network effect" - the dependence of the consumer value of a
product on the number of consumers, when analyzing competition in a
particular market, where transactions between a seller and a buyer are
made using software on the Web. The department proposes to introduce
restrictions for the owners of such software if the network effect from
their use "makes it possible to exert a decisive influence on the
general conditions for the circulation of goods," as well as in a
situation where the owner of the software occupies more than 35% of the
market for such services, and his revenue from this exceeds 400 million
rubles in a year.
Another change is the introduction of an
institute of experts, whose opinion the FAS intends to take into account
when considering petitions and antitrust cases: they must be certified
by the government and will be appointed at the request of the applicants
or the initiative of the FAS. They will be held liable for giving
deliberately false information. The services of an expert can be paid
for by the applicant or provided free of charge.
As a result
of the discussion of the "fifth antimonopoly package", it was decided to
revise the draft law only in terms of doubling the penalties for
digital platforms in cases where they neglect the requirements of the
antimonopoly legislation and repeatedly maliciously fail to comply with
the legal instructions of the antimonopoly authority.
