Investing.com -- Germany's cartel office has banned Amazon from setting price caps on online retailers in its German marketplace and is demanding 59 million euros ($69.54 million) from the company for anti-competitive behavior.

"Amazon competes directly with other marketplace retailers on its platform," said cartel office president Andreas Mundt. "Therefore, influencing competitors' pricing, even in the form of price caps, is only permissible in absolutely exceptional cases, such as price gouging."

The decision marks the first time the German watchdog has claimed financial compensation from Amazon for such practices. The demand comes through a new power granted to the office by 2023 reforms.

Amazon has one month to appeal the decision. Rocco Braeuniger, country manager for Amazon's German site, confirmed the company would challenge "this unprecedented regulatory decision" and continue normal operations.

Braeuniger argued that if Amazon is obligated to "promote uncompetitive or even abusive prices in the store, this will lead to a poor shopping experience."

The German watchdog is pursuing similar concerns with other platforms. In October, it launched an investigation into whether Chinese e-commerce platform Temu is influencing the pricing of third-party merchants.