French competition authority slaps €4.6 million fine on telehealth app Doctolib for unfair practices

Published on 06/11/2025 - 16:17 GMT+1

The French title authority has issued a much than €4.6 cardinal good against wellness tech institution Doctolib for “abusing its ascendant position” successful nan telehealth and online aesculapian assignment booking sectors.

Doctolib is 1 of French tech’s sparkling stars, pinch yearly revenues hitting a reported €348 cardinal past twelvemonth and operations crossed France, Italy, and Germany.

The Autorité de la Concurrence said in a statementthat Doctolib “deliberately implemented respective anticompetitive practices ... arsenic portion of an overall, structured, and coherent anticompetitive strategy”.

At nan bosom of nan lawsuit are 2 of nan company’s integer services, Doctolib Patient and Doctolib Téléconsultation, which let patients to book aesculapian appointments online and speak straight to aesculapian professionals done nan app.

The Autorité says that Doctolib forces master subscribers into exclusivity clauses and does not let them to subscribe separately to nan 2 services, stomping retired immoderate imaginable title successful these 2 awesome telehealth sectors.

“Numerous soul documents corroborate that Doctolib wanted to enforce exclusivity connected healthcare professionals, pinch guidance declaring that Doctolib should go ‘an essential, strategical interface betwixt expert and patient, successful bid to fastener successful some parties,’” nan Autorité said.

It besides called retired Doctolib’s 2018 acquisition of its main competitor, MonDocteur, erstwhile nan telehealth marketplace was still successful its early stages.

The lawsuit stems from a 2019 title by Cegedim Santé, 1 of Doctolib’s competitors successful France.

Doctolib said successful a connection it will entreaty nan decision, and that nan institution “is successful nary measurement successful a ascendant position”.

“Despite our wide usage by nan public, Doctolib is simply a caller subordinate successful providing package for healthcare professionals,” nan institution said.

Doctolib said it is 3 times smaller than European competitors and that it is utilized by 30 per cent of French wellness workers, up from 10 per cent successful 2019.

“We are assured and are calmly opening nan adjacent steps of nan procedure, which will let america to get a adjacent determination upon appeal,” nan institution said.