₦airaland Forum

The European Union has imposed a €200m ($232m; £173m) fine on Chinese-owned online retailer Temu for having illegal products such as dangerous baby toys and faulty chargers for sale on its platform.

The European Commission said the company had "failed to diligently identify, analyse and assess the systemic risks" of the products and the harm they could cause to consumers.

Temu has been under investigation since October 2024 over whether it has been meeting its obligations as a designated Very Large Online Platform under EU law.

The online retailer said it disagreed with the decision and deemed the fine disproportionate, and was now considering available options.

The investigation involved a mystery shopping exercise carried out by an independent testing organisation, which found that a high percentage of chargers purchased through Temu failed basic electrical safety tests. It also found that a high proportion of baby toys posed safety risks, containing chemicals above legal limits or featuring small detachable parts that presented suffocation hazards, Euronews reported.

As well as paying the fine, Temu has to present an action plan to address the failures by 28 August. The Commission then has two months to decide whether the company has done enough to comply.

EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters that the decision was intended to send a "very strong message" to Temu.

"Temu respects the objectives of the Digital Services Act and the need for clear, consistent rules across the digital economy. However, we disagree with the ​European Commission’s decision and consider the fine to be disproportionate, We are reviewing the decision carefully and considering all available options." said Temu in a statement.

But the UK consumer organisation praised the decision and urged the UK to follow suit.

"The EU's decision to fine Temu to the tune of €200m is a strong example of the tough action needed to hold online marketplaces to account for dangerous products on their platforms," said Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy.

"The UK government should follow the EU's example and make use of its new powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act to make online marketplaces legally responsible for dangerous products."

The fine is only the second imposed under the EU's Digital Services Act for content, the first being a €120m penalty against Elon Musk's X social media network last December.

muyico:
EU sha want cash out!
Africans??

Sonofgod1990:
I remember buying intimacy gadgets for my woman through this temu.. they are still working up till today

ceejay80s:
U that is not working, why would the intimacy gadget not work

Sonofgod1990:
I purposely bought it for my 2 wife's because I'm not always at home. Sometimes I spend about 2 to 3 weeks outside Nigeria. That why

DSS1335:
Everything I bought from temu is either useless, worn out or torn out in less than 6 months. They need to tighten their market against sales of substandard products

aklion:
Probably him they work offshore. So no time.

Bullhari:
This can never be Nigeria. From their adverts to their products, everything s annoying

Nelochukwu:
Everything I bought on temu has worked perfectly.

Temu is an open market. You MUST read properly the product description. Did you know that you can get original brand products on temu. Just search and you will be amazed. Buying knockoff stuff most times is why you have such complaints. Iz a Chinese company and China gets you exactly what u pay for.

Amerengues2:
Most of those commenting don't understand the gimmicks and antics at play.

This is, though a genuine concern but largely a pretext to the real challenge.

There are growing concerns in the UK, US etc for local manufacturers, Amazon, eBay, NEXT, Argos, Curry etc. Since the advent of Temu, most of the sales of these big companies have kinda dwarfed compared to projections.

Their complaints, though genuine, arose from cost of production. Temu is super cheap because of the model and the exemption from the UK company for some goods and value of items.

1) Temu is Manufacturers to Consumer- it takes a lot to beat that

2) 90% of Temu Sellers don't pay for logistics- they only take their goods to Temu Warehouse in China thereby selling at a ridiculously low fee as Temu helps ship to their destination country.

3) Once you are a seller, you can't raise your price down once it's set and the algorithm is designed to always serve you lowest prices first hence the cheap prices and this drives down sales and lower demand on other companies like Amazon, eBay, etc.

4) Temu is intentionally currently running at a loss to capture the market. This is largely disruption big companies as they've amassed a good proportion of the market share.

Etc. I can keep typing and typing....I found out all these recently when I went into deep research.

Sonofgod1990:
I remember buying intimacy gadgets for my woman through this temu.. they are still working up till today

franksam209:
are you serious? You have mind oo. I am shocked!!!!!
Boss but why would you do this? I'm trying to understand lol

muyico:
EU sha want cash out!
Africans??

franksam209:
are you serious? You have mind oo. I am shocked!!!!!
Boss but why would you do this? I'm trying to understand lol