Russia's anti-monopoly division investigates Booking.com

FAS opens investigation into Booking.com

Recently, the Russian Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) was said to have opened an investigation into travel agency giant, Booking.com, according to a regulator. The FAS claimed the company has asked hotels and hostels to offer the same prices on rival reservation platforms as they do on Booking.com's own platform.

The FAS says it warned the company about the practice in mid-November, but it didn't respond. Booking.com did not immediately respond to a request for comment, as well.

If Booking.com is found to be in breach of Russian anti-monopoly laws, it could face a fine between 1-15% of its revenue in Russia. The investigation comes in the wake of another case against the company within the EU, where it committed to bringing its practices in line with EU consumer law.

Booking.com has become the latest US tech company to draw the attention of Russia's Federal Anti-monopoly Service. The agency said it plans to investigate the hotel and hostel reservation website for anti-competitive practices.

If Booking.com is subsequently forced to change how it does business in the country, it wouldn't be the first US company that has had to do that. In 2017, Google had to start giving Russian Android users the option to pick Yandex as their default search engine when setting up a new phone.

SOURCE Booking.com
Edited by V. Haviland

Join us February 26-27 for the Property Portal Watch Conference Bangkok 2020.