Platform economics will be regularized in Russia. The Ministry of Economic Development has submitted a bill to this effect to the Russian Government. The document is aimed at creating a legal framework for the platform economy and regulating relations between platform operators, their partners and users. The initiative has significant advantages, but it needs fine-tuning, experts believe. What will happen to the platform economy in Russia - in the material "Izvestia".
To put things in order
First of all, the draft law developed by the Ministry of Economic Development defines the concepts of "platform economy", "digital platform", "order delivery point", "product card" and so on. The main regulation of the new norm, however, is focused on the issues of the activities of intermediary digital platforms (IDPs), which allow to simultaneously place an offer to sell goods or services, conclude a transaction and make payment.
"The relationship of intermediaries with their partners and users has its own specifics. At the same time, the industry has so far tried to solve many unregulated issues on its own, which creates an imbalance in the interests of the participants of the new relations," said Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Economic Development, commenting on the draft law.
The initiative also establishes the mandatory content of contracts with partners, the procedure for changing their terms, providing discounts on goods, acts of reconciliation of mutual settlements and the application of sanctions. In addition, the document introduces a digital pre-trial dispute resolution system and an algorithm of actions in case of detection of defects of goods and services.
One of the main novelties of the draft law is the norm defining the responsibility of platforms and their partners to consumers, according to Maxim Kolesnikov, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia. Platforms, in particular, will have to check their partners through the EUIA and state registers in order to prevent unverified sellers and service providers from entering the platform.
Izvestia's editorial board sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Economic Development. At the time of publication, no response had been received.
Regulatory guillotine
Platform economy is a model in which the main economic processes and interactions take place through digital platforms that unite consumers, suppliers and producers, offering convenient tools for work, the Association of Digital Platforms explained to Izvestia.
One of the key elements is intermediary digital platforms, which are defined as all marketplaces, some classifades and other platforms where goods or services can be purchased remotely, points out Dmitry Gavrilenko, director of government relations at Avito.
Digital platforms perform several important functions, among which Vladimir Korovkin, head of the laboratory of international economic research at the Moscow School of Management "Skolkovo", emphasizes finding deals, providing the necessary standards and rules and increasing the number of participants.
- Digital technologies make it possible to create systems with a huge number of participants - tens of millions of sellers and literally billions of buyers," says the Izvestia interlocutor. Attracting a large number of customers is an important advantage of digital platforms. Conventional marketing techniques would require serious investments to get a comparable audience.
Internet retail trade today accounts for a serious share of the country's GDP - more than 4%, notes the director of the Growth and Sales Strategy practice of Reksoft Consulting. "Kirill Malyshev of Reksoft Consulting.
- This is a significant share of the economy, which requires certain regulation by the government. At the same time, the share of counterfeit products on marketplaces can reach up to 50% depending on the product category," the expert is convinced.
The norms of the bill prescribe PCPs to check more thoroughly the sellers' compliance with mandatory legal requirements, such as the availability of certificates, licenses and labeling of goods, Gavrilenko adds.
The bill on platform employment, the fate of which remains unclear at the moment, emphasizes the chairman of the independent trade union "New Labor" Daria Mitina, should continue the work.
- We are concerned about the fact that there is a temporal and substantive discrepancy between the bills on platform economy and platform employment," the expert shares. The union fears that if the bill on platform economy is passed, the authorities may stop further regulation of this segment.
At the same time, the concepts of "platform employment" and "online service provision" are essentially mixed in the proposed bill, believes Dmitry Gavrilenko. Although not everything within the perimeter of the platform economy applies to employment as well.
- If the rules concerning platform employment apply to all entrepreneurs who provide services, it will create unnecessary difficulties for digital platforms, performers and the development of SMEs in Russia," the expert cautions.
Obvious benefit
The bill describes in great detail all the technological algorithms that arise in the process of using digital platforms by users, says Daria Mitina. Fiscal aspects, including issues of taxation and tax collection, as well as the procedure for performing the work itself, are outlined in detail. The rights and obligations of all participants in the process are mentioned.
The document also characterizes in detail the logistics infrastructure. Separately, the draft law enshrines the principles of equal access, transparency and openness, which the platform must ensure. There are also some mechanisms that will protect the process from fraudulent actions, the expert adds.
- It is very good that platforms are obliged to place information about insurance programs, including medical, pension and social insurance funds. Future performers should be fully informed about what insurance programs they can participate in and on what terms," the Izvestia interlocutor is convinced.
Painstaking work
Nevertheless, according to Vladimir Korovkin, international practice shows that "it is practically impossible to grasp the diverse and dynamically developing world of platform architectures in legally flawless exhaustive formulations". As a result, unscrupulous players find loopholes for themselves, while the business of bona fide players is jeopardized by the complication of the rules of the game.
In order to eliminate contradictions, the Ministry, together with market players and specialized agencies, has done a lot of work to fine-tune the bill, the Association of Digital Platforms points out. However, given the complexity of the subject of regulation, some provisions need further clarification.
- In particular, the current version of the bill provides for rather high fines for any violation of the requirements. In our opinion, the proposed fines may be disproportionate to the subject matter of the violation," the press service points out. To solve the problem we need to differentiate the amount of deductions depending on the degree of danger of the act.
In addition, it is important that the bill does not limit the ability of sellers to promote their goods on platforms, as this may lead to a decrease in their turnover.
Another important nuance, as the association notes, is that the bill covers not only PCPs, but also services that formally meet the criteria, but perform additional functions. The document also affects platforms that do not specialize in the sale of consumer goods, such as travel services, transportation aggregators and real estate platforms.
- It is now proposed to oblige sellers to provide data on goods and services and platforms to check their accuracy. However, such requirements are difficult to apply to, for example, real estate or automobile transactions. Mandatory publication of documents in this case may lead to leakage of citizens' personal data," warns Dmitry Gavrilenko.
The developers should also take into account issues related to the social protection of performers, the duties of PCPs and the digital environment, emphasizes Daria Mitina.
- People should be socially protected regardless of the organizational and legal form of their employment - whether it is an employment contract or a civil law contract. In any case, this is labor activity, and it should be provided with appropriate guarantees, - she is convinced.
In other words, the new norms are designed to streamline the platform economy, but the development of the situation depends heavily on the nuances of regulation, Kirill Malyshev admits.
- The main thing is that there should be no hidden barriers to further development and restriction of competition both on the part of platforms and producers. Such initiatives should be aimed at increasing transparency, reducing counterfeit products and increasing the interest of businesses in working with digital platforms," summarizes the expert.
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