Russians are alarmed by banks' attempts to ban discounts on marketplaces

On December 3, representatives of the Moscow Society for Consumer Protection sent a letter to the government in which they oppose a possible ban on discounts on online platforms.

"I am a mother on maternity leave, that is, I save the family budget. And, of course, if the discount marketplaces are canceled, prices there will increase significantly, and this will become unprofitable," said buyer Elvira Tyuvyakina.

It all started with the official appeal of the banks to the government. Credit institutions are confident that online stores have their own online banks and cards for paying for goods, which is a violation of competition rules and artificially low prices.

"There is no artificial lowering of prices here. There is simply a competitive struggle for the banking sector, in this case for the payment services market, in which marketplaces, having created their own banks, begin to take a certain share from traditional banks," says Anton Nedzvetsky, head of the Moscow Society for Consumer Protection.

Ozon added that by prohibiting discounts to marketplaces, banks are introducing double standards, since banks are allowed to provide discounts and bonuses to their customers inside their systems.

"It's about how to build a payment mechanism for goods that are sold on marketplaces...> Some solutions and options on how to adjust the current law or postpone this adjustment will appear in the very near future," said Alexey Guznov, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia.

Cash discrimination: adjustment of the law after a dispute over discounts on marketplaces may be postponed

The conflict between banks and online platforms forced the Central Bank to listen to both sides, and public figures refuted all the arguments of financiers.

Earlier, on November 18, the head of Sberbank, German Gref, told the Central Bank of Russia's Focus on the Customer conference that marketplaces had underpaid about 1.5 trillion rubles to the budget this year due to discounts. According to him, such programs lead to a distortion of the competitive environment, since traditional retail cannot operate in such conditions.

On November 20, the heads of Russian banks made a proposal to ban direct discounts and bonus programs for marketplaces. It was planned to make an exception for their own products of marketplaces and socially significant product categories.

In turn, Wildberries (WB) founder Tatiana Kim said on November 21 that marketplaces have always been a socially responsible business, and approval of this initiative could lead to higher inflation.

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