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PS11716-PS11717 - ICA: Coronavirus, the Authority begins investigating Amazon and eBay for misleading claims and excessive price increases.  


PRESS RELEASE


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The Authority launched two separate investigations today against the Amazon platform (Amazon Italia Customer Service, Amazon Eu, Amazon Service Europe) and eBay platform (eBay Italia and eBay Gmbh) with regard to some claims relating to the marketing of hand sanitizing/disinfectant products, respiratory tract protection masks and other health and hygiene products, during the health emergency caused by Covid-19 (so-called Corona Virus).

The two proceedings concern, on the one hand, the presence of claims relating to the alleged effectiveness of the products in terms of protection and/or counteraction against the above COVID 19 virus; on the other, the unjustified and significant increase in the prices recorded for the sale of these products in recent weeks.

After receiving many complaints and gathering information from the platforms about the actions taken, the Authority decided to open the two investigations, considering that the practices concerned a large number of items sold online.

In view of the particular moment in time when traditional forms of commerce are limited, the Authority has also decided to focus its attention on similar phenomena carried out on other e-commerce platforms. 

Rome, 12 March 2020