Armenia fines booking.com for discriminatory pricing policy

19:09 Mon, 20 March

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09.Feb .2023 16:27

Armenia fines booking.com for discriminatory pricing policy

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The head of Armenia's State Commission for Protection of Economic Commission Gegham Grigoryan said booking.com, one of the largest online travel agencies, was fined by Armenia for forbidding hotels, inns and guest houses to set a price lower than that set on its platform. Otherwise, these businesses have problems with the service, he said on Wednesday.

"We felt there was discrimination. We conducted surveys and found that rejecting booking.com's service causes problems for hotels. The tax information we have showed that the platform abuses its dominant position, dictates requirements to hotel facilities, which is a restriction on competition," Grigoryan said.

He said this kind of policy prevents Armenian hotel facilities from conducting a flexible pricing policy, and also prevents the entry of new business entities in the sphere.

"As a result, we imposed a fine on booking.com and banned such a policy. The platform has two months to voice its response," Grigoryan said, without disclosing the amount of the fine, ARKA reports.