Sellers petition for antitrust probe over Rakuten free shipping

Jan 23, 2020 | News On Japan

Jan 23, 2020 (Japan Today) - A group of merchants on Rakuten Inc's online shopping mall on Wednesday submitted a petition with some 4,000 signatures to the Japan Fair Trade Commission, asking it to investigate the e-commerce giant's planned "free shipping" policy.

The union of more than 300 sellers on Rakuten alleges that the company is abusing its dominant position in forcing them to shoulder costs for free shipping on all orders exceeding 3,980 yen starting March 18, calling it a violation of the antimonopoly law.

They also requested the antitrust watchdog to investigate cases in which some sellers say they were forced to use Rakuten's mobile payment system and shoulder its commissions, or that they were unfairly fined by Rakuten for minor violations of its rules.

The union said it "cannot tolerate repeated unilateral rule changes that are detrimental to merchants."

A Rakuten executive said the company will consider its response to the matter, adding, "We will continue our efforts to gain the understanding of sellers."

The commission, which has been stepping up oversight and regulation of Rakuten and other large online businesses, is expected to conduct investigations based on the antimonopoly law.

At present, the roughly 49,500 merchants on Rakuten's online shopping mall independently set shipping fees for each item, with some providing free shipping and others offering no such services.

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