Platform to Business (P2B) Regulation

P2B

EU Regulation 2019/1150 (the ‘P2B Regulation’) aims to provide a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for businesses who use online platforms to offer their goods or services to consumers.

Examples of online platforms include online marketplaces, such as eBay and Amazon; app stores, such as Google Play and Apple; social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram; and specialised platforms focusing on specific sectors, such as accommodation and food delivery. A small number of the rules in the P2B Regulation also apply to search engines, such as Google and Bing.

If an online platform falls within the scope of the P2B Regulation, it must comply with the rules set out below, as well as all other requirements of the Regulation.

Terms and Conditions

A platform’s terms and conditions (T&Cs) must be easily available to business users and be written in plain and intelligible language. The platform must notify business users of any changes to the T&Cs on a durable medium, such as an email, with a minimum of 15 days’ notice. T&Cs cannot be changed retroactively.

The T&Cs must describe the grounds on which the platform might suspend, restrict or terminate its service to a business user.

Suspension and Termination of Service

If the platform decides to restrict, suspend or terminate its service to a business user, it must give the business user a statement of reasons. In the case of termination, this statement of reasons must be given 30 days in advance.

Note that some exceptions may apply.

Ranking

The platform’s T&Cs must describe the main parameters which affect the ranking of goods and services on the platform, including informing business users if it is possible to influence ranking by paying the platform. The T&Cs must also state if the platform’s own goods and services get preferential placement in the ranking, or indeed if they receive any other kind of differentiated treatment.

Note that these requirements on ranking and differentiated treatment also apply to search engines.

Handling of Complaints

Platforms must establish an internal complaint-handling system for business users. This system must be easily accessible and free of charge.

The platform must process all complaints within a reasonable timeframe and communicate the outcome to the complainant in an individualised manner.

The platform must also make information on the complaints it has received from business users easily available to the public. This information should include the total number of complaints, the main categories of complaints, the average processing time, as well as aggregated information on the outcomes of the complaints.

The platform should also identify at least two mediators with whom it is willing to engage in order to resolve, out of court, any disputes which may occur. Businesses are not obliged to submit any dispute to mediation.

More information on the Platform to Business Regulations

Note that platforms employing fewer than 50 people or with an annual turnover or balance sheet under €10 million are not required to establish an internal complaint-handling system.

Data Access

The platform’s T&Cs must describe the access that business users have to the data generated, either by consumers or by the business itself, through the use of the platform.

The platform’s T&Cs must state if the platform can access the data generated by the business user or consumer from their use of the platform.

If the platform suspends or terminates its service to a business user but later revokes that decision, the platform must restore service without undue delay- including restoring the business user’s access to the data they had, prior to the suspension or termination.

Most-Favoured Nation Clauses

If the platform restricts business users from offering their product under different conditions through other means, including other platforms or the business user’s own website, the platform’s T&Cs must explain the grounds for that restriction. For example, if an accommodation platform does not allow a hotel to offer its rooms for a lower price on the hotel’s own website, the grounds for this must be set out in the platform’s T&Cs.

This transparency obligation does not affect the application of other legal requirements, including in the areas of competition and unfair commercial practices, which may restrict these so-called “most-favoured nation” clauses.

Ancillary Goods or Services

The platform’s T&Cs must describe which ancillary goods or services the platform offers (if any) with the business user’s goods or services, and must also state whether business users are allowed to offer their own. Examples of ancillary goods or services would be a repair service for a product, or insurance for a car rental.

Right to Take Action

Business users, as well as their representative organisations or associations who fulfil certain criteria, can take legal action to prevent any non-compliance by online platforms with the P2B Regulation.

Guidance

Further information on the P2B Regulation, including practical guidance, is available on the European Commission’s website.

Contact us

If you have any queries in relation to the P2B Regulation or believe that any of these rules has been breached, please let us know using the webform below.

Register of unlawful acts

In accordance with regulation 5 of S.I. No. 256/2020 – the European Union (Promoting Fairness and Transparency for Business Users of Online Intermediation Services) Regulations 2020, the CCPC maintains a register of unlawful acts that have been the subject of an order before the Circuit Court or the High Court under section 71 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007. Any such orders will be listed here.

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