The unified approach can form the basis for revising the Procedure for analyzing the state of competition in commodity markets in order to take into account the specifics of the functioning of digital platforms.
On October 22, 2020, the FAS Russia hosted the first meeting of the Working Group, created to develop common approaches of assessing the volume of markets in which digital platforms such as "market place" and aggregators operate. The working group was created under the instruction of the Government of the Russian Federation.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the main approaches to the definition of digital platforms, the impact of various factors on the functioning of digital markets. Members of the Working Group noted that the definition of a digital platform should be based on a systematic analysis of legal relations and the basic concept should be enshrined in special legislation - the Law on Information.
Based on the results of the meeting, participants came to the conclusion that it was necessary to develop basic approaches to analyzing digital markets, describing methods for studying the influence of factors characteristic of digital markets (such as network effects) on the emergence or strengthening of the dominant position of digital platforms - aggregators, marketplaces.
The jointly developed basic approaches can form the basis for finalizing the Procedure for analyzing the state of competition in commodity markets in order to take into account the specifics of the functioning of digital platforms.
Following the discussion, experts will send their proposals to the FAS Russia. Subsequently, they will be submitted for discussion at the next meeting of the Working Group in the first decade of November.
