Keystone / Gaetan Bally
Switzerland’s price watchdog has ruled that Booking.com’s commission rates for hotels in the country are excessive. It’s ordered the online travel giant to cut them by nearly 25%. Booking.com has hit back, saying it disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal to the Federal Administrative Court.
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The regulator has found that Booking.com falls under the country’s price monitoring law and was charging excessive fees. It approached the company to address the issue, but “intensive negotiations” were unsuccessful.
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As a result, Booking.com has been ordered to cut its commission rates by an average of nearly 25%. The company has three months to comply once the ruling comes into force. The measure is temporary and will remain in place for three years.
Booking.com says it plans to appeal the ruling. The company told the Keystone-SDA news agency that its customers are free to list their accommodation on the platform, and it doesn’t agree with the commission cut for what it describes as a purely optional service.
The company argues that its commission reflects the significant value it brings to accommodation partners. “No changes to our commission rates will be made while the appeal process is ongoing,” the platform added.
The American group’s pricing practices have come under scrutiny several times in the past. Around three years ago, the Swiss parliament banned booking platforms like Booking.com from including price-fixing clauses in their contracts with hotels.
This means hotels are free to offer better deals on their own websites than those listed on the platform. The European Court of Justice backed this approach in a ruling last September.
Translated from German with DeepL/sp
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