Antitrust, €150,000 fine to Tannico for unfair commercial practice

Only products included in the dedicated sections whose discounted sale price is lower than the lowest price of the last thirty days (as prescribed by Article 17-bis of the Consumer Code) can be considered 'on promotion'.

For this reason, the Competition and Market Authority has imposed a fine of EUR 150,000 on Tannico - the largest online wine shop in Italy, specialising in the sale of wine, champagne and spirits - accusing it of unfair business practice.

By means of its website and app, the company - which recently came under the control of Castel Vins - disseminated misleading and omissive commercial communications on the announcements of price reductions of the alcoholic beverages advertised, considering it correct to use the wording 'promotion' both when the sale price was equal to the lowest price applied in the last thirty days and when the 'promotional' sale price was higher than the aforementioned lowest price in the last thirty days, contrary to the provisions of the regulations to protect consumers, to ensure correct information on the actual economic convenience of the promotions.

This practice lasted from 22 November 2024 to 15 July 2025: during the investigation - the Antitrust Authority notes - the platform removed the unfairness profiles of its commercial communications from the site and app, putting an end to the infringement (as shown by the surveys carried out last July and September).

The Antitrust Authority set the basic amount of the administrative fine against the company Tannico & Wineplatform at EUR 300,000. However, having found budget losses (in 2024 the company had revenues of approximately EUR 26.9 million and a loss of approximately EUR 32.1 million) it decided to halve the fine to EUR 150 thousand.