China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has been fined 800,000 yuan (US$129,000) by the price bureau in Zhejiang Province for violations by third-party sellers during promotions on its e-commerce platforms.
Alibaba said it has received a notice from the Zhejiang price bureau that the company has been fined 500,000 yuan for pricing breaches by third-party sellers during Singles Day shopping promotion in 2013 and 2014.
It was also fined another 300,000 yuan for their pricing violations during other promotions in 2013 and 2015.
"Alibaba marketplaces are designed to bring buyers and sellers together and pricing by third-party sellers is carried out independently of Alibaba," the Hangzhou-based company said in a statement.
But the company said it will enforce pricing rules and regulations for sellers as well as emphasizing these rules in advance of this year's Singles Day activities.
Some vendors were suspected of having raised the prices of their products before offering discounts in the hope of luring consumers to spend in their shops.
Last year, sales topped 57.1 billion yuan during the 24-hour shopping spree, and more than 27,000 vendors participated.
Earlier this year, Alibaba was also criticized by regulators for failing to control the sale of counterfeit products on its platforms.
In February, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma met with Zhi Shuping, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Ma said Alibaba would step up collaboration with the government to block knockoffs from its Taobao and Tmall sites.
