FAS RUSSIA ISSUED ORDER TO THE OPERATOR OF THE ELECTRONIC PLATFORM RTS-TENDER LLC

The company established special conditions for individual participants of auctions for sale of seized property, leading to restriction of competition at auctions

The operator of the electronic platform charged the winners of the auction for the sale of seized property remuneration for their services – providing remote access to the site, as well as for organizational, consulting and technical support. The amount of remuneration was differentiated. According to the general conditions, it was 1.2% of the initial price of the property, but for bidders organized by individual legal entities special rates were set up to 10%.

At the same time, FAS Russia did not identify any technical or other features that would contribute to the increase in the cost of the bidding procedure conducted by individual organizers on the electronic platform.

According to FAS Russia, bidders who are forced to pay remuneration for the operator's services at special tariffs significantly exceeding the general ones are placed at a deliberate disadvantage in relation to other participants paying remuneration under general conditions.

The actions of the operator contain signs of violation of the Law on Protection of Competition. In this regard, FAS Russia has issued RTS-Tender LLC a mandatory order to eliminate the violations identified.