AGCM

In its meeting on Sunday 22 March 2020, the Authority opened an investigation and, at the same time, ordered as an interim measure both the shutdown of the http://testcoronavirus.shop/it website, with the cooperation of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Finance Police, and the suspension of the promotion and marketing of the ‘Rapid Test COVID-19’ at a price of €24.86.

The reason for the shutdown and suspension is the need to stop the spread of an extremely serious practice, with the Authority’s intervention thus both urgent and unavoidable.

The product in question is advertised as a medical diagnostic device intended for use at home, by people not familiar with diagnostic tests, in order to quickly and reliably self-diagnose possible COVID-19 contagion. In reality, the information provided by the professional on the effectiveness of the test, its intended use and its experimental character appears ambiguous, confusing and obscure.

In particular, the Authority found that the way the product is marketed and sold is prima facie misleading, aggressive and capable of affecting the consumer’s judgement, since the trader is exploiting the alarm caused by the constant increase in the number of people infected by COVID-19 and the risk of mortality as a result of the virus contraction, as well as the spreading of news about alleged difficulties in the supply of “swabs” by public health facilities.

The Authority, in view of the unique current circumstances, is continuing to monitor the market focusing its attention on operators active in e-commerce who adopt unfair and misleading behaviour.

Rome, 24 March 2020