The Expert Council on Competition Development in the Field of Information Technologies under the FAS of Russia will consider key unresolved issues of marketplace operation on March 20. This was reported on March 17 by the Federal Antimonopoly Service. On the agenda are the principles of forming commissions for sellers and the conditions for providing discounts at the expense of the digital platform itself. The Law on Platform Economy No. 289-FZ was adopted in 2025 and comes into force in October 2026, but a number of issues remained open in it. In particular, the law prohibits marketplaces from giving discounts at the expense of the seller without his consent, but does not contain a similar prohibition on discounts at the expense of the platform itself.
Marketplace Commissions: What are the Claims of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development
The central issue on commissions is the unequal conditions for Russian and foreign sellers. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Anton Alikhanov, called unacceptable the practice in which marketplaces set commissions for suppliers of imported products lower than for suppliers of domestic goods. A similar position was taken in January 2026 by the Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, pointing to the instructions of the President and the Government on this issue.
The Council will also consider the prospects of creating a technical functionality that will allow the marketplace to obtain the seller's consent to invest in the price of the goods - without worsening the conditions of interaction on the platform for those who refuse.
Law on Platform Economy: What Has Already Been Regulated
The law, which comes into force in October 2026, for the first time recorded a number of mandatory rules for marketplaces. Platforms are required to specify in the contract the principles of forming ratings and search results, a list of sanctions and the procedure for settlements. Discounts at the expense of the seller without his consent are prohibited - the platform is obliged to notify the seller five business days in advance and obtain explicit consent to participate in the promotion. The grounds for blocking a personal account are now clearly defined, in most cases - with a warning three days in advance.
Before the adoption of the law, marketplaces regulated relations with sellers through a contract of offer, which they could change unilaterally. Wildberries and Ozon collectively provide work for about 1.26 million sellers - it is for this audience that the predictability of conditions is most critical.
The FAS meeting on March 20 is the last regulatory milestone before the finalization of the regulatory framework by October 2026. Two unresolved issues - discounts at the expense of the platform and differentiated commissions - directly affect the competitiveness of Russian sellers within the country's largest trading platforms.
