Overview

• The Bundeskartellamt has opened proceedings against Whaleco Technology Limited, which operates Temu, over suspected unlawful pricing instructions for merchants on its German marketplace.
• The authority will scrutinize seller terms and other conduct on temu.com in Germany, including whether the platform sets final retail prices itself.
• Agency president Andreas Mundt said such restraints could significantly limit competition and raise prices even across other sales channels.
• Germany’s retail association HDE previously filed a complaint alleging Temu curbed sellers’ pricing autonomy, including a reported cap at 85% of prices on rival platforms.
• Temu told Reuters it complies with applicable laws and expects to address the concerns, while a separate EU DSA investigation continues on product safety and platform practices.