The Fair Trade Commission has decided to investigate transactions that would be affected by Amazon Japan's plan to expand its reward points program to include all items sold through its website.
The FTC regards as problematic the fact that outside vendors for the Japanese unit of e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. will have to bear the cost of providing points.
This is part of a large-scale FTC investigation, launched in January, of massive IT firms. If necessary, the FTC plans to invoke its right to conduct compulsory investigations under Article 40 of the Antimonopoly Law to look into the transactions.
It is expected to look closely into the points system and other areas during the investigation.
Amazon is planning to introduce in May a system in which buyers receive points equal to at least 1 percent of the purchase price of all items. It began sending notices of the change in February to outside vendors who sell items through Amazon Marketplace.
If vendors leave the prices of their wares unchanged, their burden increases in accordance with how many points are awarded. The new point system may force vendors across the board to award points at their own expense.
The FTC will investigate whether there is "abuse of a dominant bargaining position," in which a client is unjustly put at a financial disadvantage.
The world's antimonopoly authorities are heightening their vigilance toward IT giants, including the four collectively called GAFA -- Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.com. In its large-scale investigation begun in January, the FTC is prioritizing efforts in the area of internet sales, where unfair business practices are reportedly becoming the norm, and the sale of smartphone apps.
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