The Federal Antimonopoly Service has opened an antitrust case against the online service Booking.com for violating the Law on Protection of Competition..
"On December 27, 2019, the Federal Antimonopoly Service opened a case against Booking.com BV for violating the Law on the Protection of Competition. The violation involved imposing contractual terms on accommodation providers (hotels, motels, hostels, etc.) in the Russian Federation, requiring them to provide and maintain parity in prices and rooms, as well as terms for interaction with closed user groups," the agency's press service reported.
Moreover, the company's actions to impose unfavorable contract terms, according to which the accommodation facility cannot set a price for its services on one aggregator of information about accommodation facilities lower than on another, and does not have the opportunity to offer a better price for its services to third parties, may lead to an infringement of the interests of accommodation facilities, as well as to the restriction and elimination of competition in this market.
"Failure to comply with the FAS Russia warning will result in the initiation of a case for violation of antitrust legislation," the Service added.
As a reminder, the European Commission has ordered online hotel booking service Booking.com to provide accurate information about discounts and to stop using manipulative methods in search results by mid-June 2020.
Source: trn-news.ru