Claims against marketplaces are growing

[tanjimajuha20]

Dmitry Gusev noted that lawyers, in accordance with the Civil Code, classify marketplaces as trade, since they reflect the trade relations that have developed in society.


Chairman of the public saudi arabia whatsapp resourceorganization for the protection of consumer rights "Public Consumer Initiative" Oleg Pavlov spoke about the indicators of the three largest marketplaces, without specifying their names: "The turnover growth of the first marketplace was 50% in 2023 compared to 2022, and the dynamics of violations and warnings in the field of consumer protection increased by 300%. The turnover of the second marketplace grew by 110%, while the number of violations increased by about 80%. The turnover of the third grew by 40%, and the number of warnings decreased by 67%."

"Violations often concern the terms of the offer - something that millions of buyers invisibly accept. But then they cannot return the goods and are faced with non-returnable lists," explained Oleg Pavlov.

According to deputy Dmitry Gusev, both the relationships between marketplaces and consumers and with sellers who are in labor or commercial relations with the platform require legislative regulation.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, 10 million people are already involved in platform employment, and by 2030 there will be 15 million people - that is, a quarter of the country's working population.

"If sellers are on a simplified taxation system, they underpay about a trillion rubles a year to the Social Fund and underpay about the same amount in personal income tax to the state budget if their relations with marketplaces were labor relations. Often, ordinary labor relations are hidden under commercial relations," concluded Dmitry Gusev.

Are consumers and small businesses really that poor?

Deputy Managing Director of Internet Solutions LLC (Ozon) Alexey Minaev noted that from 2020 to the end of 2023, the number of buyers on Ozon increased from 24 million to 49 million - a twofold increase; the frequency of purchases, that is, how often one person buys goods on the site, increased from five to 22.

"This raises the question: are consumers aware that they have problems with marketplaces? The figures prove that there are no global problems. The figures for small businesses are even more striking: in three years, the number of sellers has grown from 40 thousand to 500 thousand. We should not underestimate the mental abilities of businessmen and think that they are oppressed and dissatisfied with the service provided by marketplaces. Obviously, this is not the case. They sell on them en masse and more and more," said Alexey Minaev.

Vice President of the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation, member of the Supervisory Board of the Association of Information System Operators and Digital Financial Asset Exchange Operators Elena Avakyan sided with the accused marketplaces: "Regulation built on the "presumption of insanity" of participants in civil transactions leads to the fact that those who are considered insane begin to use weakness as strength. If we grant rights to the consumer, it is necessary that he bear the consequences if he abuses them."

Elena Avakyan gave an example when a buyer, having received an original product, returns a counterfeit one, and neither the platform nor the seller can identify the buyer or find him. "When developing regulations, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that the consumer is obliged to act in good faith. Regulation should be based on a balance of interests," concluded Elena Avak