OTTAWA – The Canadian unit of Amazon.com will pay a $1 million fine to settle an investigation into pricing activities on its website that gave an inaccurate view of how much consumers could save, Canada’s competition watchdog said on Wednesday.
After a two-year investigation, the Competition Bureau found that Amazon’s practice of comparing its prices to regular prices on its Canadian site gave consumers the impression that the website was selling items at a price lower than the general market.
READ MORE: Amazon files patent for flying warehouses
Get weekly money news
The Competition Bureau said Amazon relied on its suppliers to provide list prices without verifying their accuracy and advertised the savings on its site and in other places.
WATCH: Amazon files patent papers for massive delivery blimp
- Ontario truckers warn rising diesel prices will mean more expensive groceries
- Nearly 1 in 4 Canadian households live in unaffordable housing, StatCan says
- Trump says he wants potash from Belarus for ‘subtantially less’ than Canada
- Ontario NDP asks auditor general to investigate Staples education contract
Amazon has already made changes to the way it advertises regular prices on its Canadian website to more accurately show potential savings, the watchdog said.
READ MORE: Run-DMC co-founder sues Amazon, Wal-Mart for trademark infringement
In addition to the penalty, Amazon will pay $100,000 toward the Competition Bureau’s costs.
Amazon officials were not immediately available for comment.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.