French healthtech Doctolib has been hit with a €4.6m fine by the French competition authority, accusing the company of anti-competitive practices.
The Paris-based scaleup is one of France’s most high-profile tech companies, valued at €5.8bn. Doctolib provides an online booking platform that lets patients schedule doctor appointments, which has seen huge adoption and become a critical pillar of France’s healthcare system.
It has also built a suite of software tools for practitioners on top of the patient booking system, which includes teleconsultation, notetaking and an all-in-one platform to manage patient medical information.
The competition authority launched an investigation against Doctolib following a complaint filed in 2019 by Cegedim Santé, a French healthcare software provider.
In a statement released today, the watchdog said Doctolib was found to have “abusively exploited its dominant position” and issued a fine of €4.665m.
Doctolib is appealing the decision.
What is Doctolib accused of?
The competition watchdog notes Doctolib has a dominant position in online booking services for patients, covering over half of online appointments booked in France (and up to 90% of appointments in recent years). It also represents 40% of medical teleconsultations carried out in the country.
According to the investigation, until 2023 Doctolib’s contracts with practitioners included a clause stopping them from using competitors’ services for patient booking and teleconsultation services.
It also found practitioners wishing to use Doctolib’s teleconsultation services were required to enroll in the patient booking system, leaving them “no choice” but to use the company’s services “at the detriment of competing services”.
The watchdog also looked into the acquisition of MonDocteur, a French startup Doctolib bought in 2018, described as its main competitor.
Internal documents assessed as part of the investigation reveal the acquisition was intended to “kill” the product and ensure “the disappearance of [MonDocteur] as a competitor.” It was also seen as a way to enable Doctolib to increase pricing by up to 20%.
Appealing the decision
In a statement released today, Doctolib said the decision reflects a “misunderstanding” of the company’s business, and that it plans to appeal the competition authority’s decision.
The scaleup disputed the claim it holds a dominant position, pointing out that it currently serves 30% of healthcare practitioners in the country. It also said the acquisition of MonDocteur had not significantly impacted market share.
“This external growth operation, bringing together two SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to innovate faster, is completely commonplace in corporate life,” said Doctolib in the statement.
The company recently posted €348m in annual recurring revenues (ARR) for 2024. It serves 80m patients and 400k healthcare professionals across four European markets (France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands).
