Fines for individuals are set in the range from 30 to 80 thousand rubles, for legal entities — from 100 to 400 thousand rubles. The law prohibits platforms from restricting access to a personal account, removing a product card, lowering a rating or worsening a position in search results if the seller refused to participate in the promotion at the expense of the site.
Law enforcement is attributed to the competence of three departments — FAS, Rospotrebnadzor and Roskomnadzor. The problem is that most of the provisions of Article 14.69 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation have a 90-day statute of limitations, and these regulators do not yet have a well-established practice.
"The lack of well-established practices from the FAS, Rospotrebnadzor and Roskomnadzor, combined with the short statute of limitations, creates a zone of regulatory uncertainty. This increases the risks of selective enforcement," warned Alexander Lebedev, Advisor to the Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.
The regulation applies only to large platforms: platforms with a daily audience of 100 thousand users and either 10 thousand sellers or a turnover of 50 billion rubles per year fall under the 289-FZ. Niche and foreign platforms that are not included in the registry gain a temporary competitive advantage until they are regulated.
Lawyer Ruslan Katana pointed out that the law rather strengthens large-scale players: "Large-scale compliance is cheaper for large-scale players, and the introduction of the registry creates a barrier to new and niche platforms, including foreign ones operating outside the registry, which reduces the potential for competition."
Alexey Molodykh, CEO of MARMP, confirmed the systemic nature of the problem: "Fines formally fall on the site, but in the current market model, costs are almost always transferred downwards — through increased commissions, logistics tariffs, or paid promotion services." According to him, some small sellers with low margins may leave the sites — this is a direct consequence of the fact that the costs of complying with the law do not depend on the seller's turnover.
The evidence base is a separate difficulty. Senator Artyom Sheikin, Deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital economy at the Federation Council, outlined the main technical problem: the seller's rating depends on demand, quality of service and delivery time, and it will be extremely difficult to establish a direct link between the rejection of the discount and the deterioration of positions. He suggested providing for increased liability for repeated violations.
The law introduces a registry and regulates the terms of contracts, but does not limit the amount of commissions and does not prohibit platforms from selling their own products. Kirill Kosminsky, director of the Association of Investment Platforms, believes that regulation alone will not reduce the investment attractiveness of Russian e-commerce: without external rules, conditions are dictated by a strong side — a large platform that prioritizes maximizing profits.
For sellers working with an imported assortment, the situation is further complicated: low—margin positions will be under double pressure from exchange costs and rising platform tariffs. Alexander Lebedev admitted that the law could lead to market consolidation, and micro-companies would not have enough analytical competencies to timely withdraw unprofitable SKUs.
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