The Challenges of Personalised Pricing, and Self-Preferencing of Online Platform to Thailand Competition Law

Abstract

The digitalisation and algorithm-based machine enable online businesses to collect a vast amount of data related to consumers' online activity, which can be used for personalised pricing and self-preferencing. Personalised pricing, which involves charging different customers with different prices for the same product or service based on their personal behaviour, could be a form of abuse of dominance. However, there is ambiguity in some jurisdictions regarding whether discriminatory treatment against consumers can be considered an abuse of dominance. Also, the potential anticompetitive effects of self-preferencing, where dominant online marketplaces prioritize their own products or services over those of competitors. It raises questions about whether using data to favour oneself constitutes an abuse of a dominant position or is it necessary for the dominant position leverages its market power and the effects of the abuse to be in the same market, and whether competition law should regulate these practices. Indeed, when assessing the anticompetitive effect of these practices, it was found that they have adverse effects on competition. Therefore, it needs careful implementation of competition law to address these challenges effectively, and competition law regime of Thailand is inadequate to address personalised pricing and self-preferencing practices in digital economy.

Keywords: Personalised Pricing, Self-Preferencing, Unfair Trade Practice

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/138-06

Publication date: December 31^st 2023