Booking in Spain was penalized for hundreds of millions of euros for market monopoly

Booking, a travel rental service, has long been criticized for abusing its position and often behaving like a monopolist. This week, the company was handed a record fine for this.

According to the decision of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) of Spain, Booking will have to pay 413.24 million euros for holding a monopoly position in the market over the past 5 years. This is stated on the official website of the commission. This is the largest fine ever imposed by the Spanish authorities for violating antitrust laws.

The commission's experts found that bookings through the service during this period of time occupied 70% to 90% of the total market. This had a negative impact on Spanish hotels. It also caused losses to other agencies that help tourists book accommodation and compete with the giant platform.

The CNMC's claims were based on the fact that Booking's monopoly position encouraged hotels in Spain to place their offers exclusively on this platform. This blocked the work of the platform's competitors and prevented other services from entering and expanding the market. And this is despite the fact that Spain is the second most visited country in the world after France and provides a lot of travel services.

The agency also became aware of two cases of abuse of position by Booking, which were recorded on January 1, 2019. The platform imposed unfair commercial conditions on Spanish hotels that used its services. In particular, the hotels were not allowed to place offers for renting rooms on their own websites at a lower price than in the Booking system. At the same time, the company reserved the right to unilaterally reduce the prices offered by hotels through the service.

CNMC also pointed out the lack of transparency in several of the service's programs, which allow hotels to improve their ranking in exchange for higher commissions or discounts to customers for the best-selling or cheapest room.

Booking was founded in 1996 in the Netherlands. It offers hotel and private accommodation owners the opportunity to post their offers for tourists and provides online booking.

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