German cartel office investigating Temu over merchant price influencing

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Germany's cartel office has initiated proceedings into Temu to examine whether the Chinese discount e-commerce platform is influencing merchants' pricing, it said on Wednesday.

"We are investigating the suspicion that Temu could impose inadmissible requirements on merchants' pricing on the German marketplace," said office president Andreas Mundt.

"Such requirements could constitute significant restrictions of competition and ultimately lead to price increases on other sales channels," he added.

The proceedings have been opened against Dublin-based Whaleco Technology Limited, which operates as Temu in Germany.