FAS opened the case against Booking.com

The FAS accused the Booking.com hotel selection and booking service of violating the competition for the protection of competition for the fact that the service required a guarantee of the best price from hotels.

Photo from the service account on Facebook

The department indicated that Booking.com occupies a dominant position in the market for the services of information aggregators about hotels and hostels (occupies more than 70% of the market). The actions of the company to impose unprofitable terms of the contract, according to which the hotel cannot set the price of services on one site lower than on the other, and is not able to offer the best price for services to third parties, can lead to infringement of the interests of accommodation and elimination of competition in this market, the FAS said in its official release.

On November 12, the service issued a Booking.com warning after a corresponding request from the Business Association "Rossiya Russia". Then the business community explained that hotels parity are anti-competitive practice of doing business, especially considering that in order to display the best price on the platform above others, hotels should pay the service a commission of 25%. “The warning was to be executed within a month - until December 12, 2019, but the company did not,” the department explained.

The company stated that it was its model that "provides users with a transparent and consistent approach to comparing prices", and pricing remains the prerogative of hoteliers.