Booking.com under investigation by Swiss price watchdog

Booking.com under investigation by Swiss price watchdog

The Swiss price watchdog has reportedly issued proceedings against Booking.com. Allegations of “price abuse” have been made against the OTA concerning commissions that hoteliers have to pay in Siwtzerland. Stefan Meierhans, from the authority, said on Tuesday that an amicable … Continue reading

The Swiss price watchdog has reportedly issued proceedings against Booking.com.

Allegations of “price abuse” have been made against the OTA concerning commissions that hoteliers have to pay in Siwtzerland.

Stefan Meierhans, from the authority, said on Tuesday that an amicable solution had failed since Booking.com had “no interest in holding talks”.

He would not talk in depth about the case, according to Swiss media reports, but said he had began investigating Booking.com in February.

That investigation was looking into where hotels appear on the site based on how much they pay to be listed and how much commission they were asked to pay Booking.com.

Meierhans told the Swiss News Agency that the prices paid by consumers had not been questioned “even though the commission paid by hoteliers would necessarily have a ripple effect on the final price”.

He has the power to order new commission fees to be set if Booking.com doesn’t join the negotiating table, but that could be appealed at the federal administrative court.

Booking.com denied it had refused to take part in talks and said all the facts and data were made available to the price watchdog following a meeting in June. It added that the commissions it charged were comparable with its competition.