Booking.com must reduce commissions for hotel reservations by almost a quarter. The Swiss price regulator states that the booking platform abuses its dominant position by demanding “illegitimately high” commissions. Booking.com disagrees with this.
Booking.com charges commissions to hotels that process their reservations through the platform. With the forced reduction, the Swiss regulator wants to “strengthen the competitive position of Swiss hotels and indirectly reduce the financial burden for customers.”
The Amsterdam-based Booking.com disagrees with the reduction. According to the company, hotels are not obliged to offer their rooms on the platform. Booking.com wants to challenge the measure and apply the current commissions as long as the appeal is being processed.
This is not the first time Booking.com has been reprimanded. The company had to pay a fine of 413 million euros from Spain because the company would also abuse its dominant market position there.