"From the New Year, it will be easier to fight against practices where online intermediary platforms and search engines act unfairly when offering their services to smaller businesses. In such cases, businesses will only have to go to the Competition Council if their rights are infringed. This will ensure even more effective remedies for businesses," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Online businesses will be able to inform the Competition Council about the behaviour of online intermediation platforms and search engines that violate their rights, such as disconnection without warning, non-transparent preferential treatment or failure to inform them about possible removal from the platform.
The Competition Council will investigate complaints of such infringements and impose sanctions. It will also cooperate with the enforcement authorities of other Member States of the European Union, assisting them in cross-border investigations and exchanging information.
"This will make it easier for small businesses operating online to enforce their rights and encourage them to be more proactive in making the most of the opportunities offered by online platforms. It will also be cheaper and easier for them to go to the regulator - the Competition Council - than directly to the courts. This will also reduce the administrative burden," says Ieva Valeškaitė, the Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The Competition Council's monitoring of e-marketplaces has shown that there are at least several dozen providers of online intermediary platform services and internet search engines operating in Lithuania or providing services to business customers.
This law was adopted in implementation of the European Union Regulation on improving the fairness and transparency of online intermediation services provided to business customers.
