Have you booked through this website? Booking.com in trouble, probe launched
The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has launched a competition supervision procedure against Booking.com B.V. According to the GVH, the Dutch-based market-leading accommodation booking platform may have provided misleading information regarding the fees of certain services and may have also misled consumers about the discounts offered through its Genius program, the authority informed MTI on Wednesday.
According to the official statement, some services on Booking.com are available at different prices depending on the device used, such as the mobile app or a desktop computer, even though the content of the service remains unchanged.
The GVH also suspects that the company engaged in deceptive commercial communication regarding the discounts available at various levels of the Genius program.
The authority stated that since 1 January 2022, these practices have likely misled Hungarian consumers, potentially prompting them to make transaction decisions they would not have otherwise made, and thereby incurring unnecessary additional costs.
Not the first time for Booking.com
The GVH also noted that this is not the first time Booking.com has come under its scrutiny.
In 2020, the authority fined the company HUF 2.5 billion (EUR 6.3 million) for using deceptive sales practices. An additional fine of HUF 382.5 million (EUR 960,000) followed in 2024 after a follow-up investigation found that the company had failed to fully comply with the commitments it had made during the earlier procedure, and in some cases, continued its original unlawful practices.
In the summer of 2023, the GVH conducted a fast-tracked sector inquiry into the online accommodation brokerage and booking market in response to a large number of market complaints. Among its recommendations was the elimination of price parity clauses, which Booking.com discontinued as of 1 July 2024.
Read more tourism-related news on Daily News Hungary.
Read also:
- Serious problems with Booking.com: Hungarian accommodation providers outraged
- Breaking: Booking.com receives record fine in Hungary