The Belgian Competition Authority has ordered AutoScout24 Belgium to reinstate the automated transfer of sellers’ vehicle listing data to rival platform carselect.touring.be, marking a important interim intervention in Belgium’s digital platform sector. The decision, adopted on 30 April 2026, follows a complaint by new market entrant TCS Mobility, operator of carselect.touring.be, alleging that AutoScout24 abruptly blocked the automated export of vehicle data from its platform.
AutoScout24 operates the leading online marketplace for second-hand car listings in Belgium and is considered a critical advertising channel for professional car dealers. Dealers typically multi-home across several platforms and rely on software tools to transfer and synchronise listing data automatically, avoiding duplicative manual entry. TCS argued that AutoScout24’s conduct forced dealers wishing to advertise on carselect.touring.be to re-enter vehicle information manually, significantly increasing friction and reducing the attractiveness of TCS’s platform.
In granting interim measures, the BCA found prima facie that AutoScout24 may hold a dominant position in the Belgian market for second-hand car classified advertising. The authority pointed to strong network effects, noting that dealers view AutoScout24 as an unavoidable trading partner because of its large user base and volume of listings.
The BCA further concluded that AutoScout24’s conduct may amount to an abuse of dominance under Article IV.2 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law and Article 102 TFEU. Crucially, the authority observed that AutoScout24 generally permits automated transfers of listing data to other platforms, including competitors, but ceased doing so after TCS introduced a pay-per-lead pricing model instead of a traditional pay-per-list model. The BCA considered that this suggested AutoScout24 had specifically targeted TCS and its alternative business model.
Finding that the restriction risked causing serious and difficult-to-repair harm to TCS by undermining its ability to attract dealers and achieve scale, the BCA ordered AutoScout24 to restore the data transfer functionality immediately. The order is backed by penalty payments of EUR 20,000 per day, capped at EUR 7 million.
