LUXEMBOURG, March 6 (Reuters) - Zalando,

Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, on Thursday criticised

EU tech regulators for lumping it in the same group as Amazon ( AMZN )

and AliExpress, saying it should not be subject to as

stringent provisions of the bloc's tech rules as the other two

companies.

The European Commission's Digital Services Act (DSA), which

came into effect in 2022 requires very large online platforms

(VLOP) to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content or risk

fines as much as 6% of their global annual revenue.

Such label should not apply to Zalando, the company told

Europe's second-top court.

"Amazon ( AMZN ), AliExpress, booking.com. Zalando differs

fundamentally from these (business models). The European

Commission has not paid sufficient attention to this," Zalando's

lawyer Robert Briske told the panel of five judges at the

General Court.

"Zalando has a hybrid service which in our view is one of

the issues in this case. It is not purely an online shop, not

purely an online marketplace," Briske said.

Zalando, which on Thursday said it aimed to expand its range

of brands, sells its own products as well as those provided by

partners.

Briske also disputed the Commission's count of Zalando's

active users, saying its 83 million figure was erroneous and

that only 30.8 million visitors to its site can be counted as

active recipients in 2023 when it was classified as a VLOP.

The EU executive said there was no difference between

Zalando's business model and that of Amazon ( AMZN ) or AliExpress.

"Amazon Store, AliExpress, all operate similarly hybrid

services," Commission lawyer Liane Wildpanner told the court.

"The applicant is seeking to have the best of both worlds,"

she said.

BEVH, Germany's e-commerce association, backed Zalando while

the European Information Society Institute, the European

Parliament and the Council of the European Union sided with the

Commission.

The General Court will rule on the challenge in the coming

months. Amazon ( AMZN ) has also sued the Commission over its designation

and is waiting for the court to set a date for a hearing.

The case is T-348/23 Zalando v Commission.