Swiss watchdog opens the door: Booking.com under investigation

The Swiss federak price watchdog has initiated proceedings against Booking.com, hotel booking platform, after finding signs of “price abuse” concerning commissions that hoteliers have to pay in Switzerland. 

During an investigation, watchdog Stefan Meierhans examined commissions paid by hoteliers to the site and found indications of abusive prices, news agency ATS reported on Tuesday. 
 
Meierhans, who would not go into detail, began investigating Booking.com in February, looking into whether it was a market-leading company, how much hoteliers had to pay to appear on the site, where the hotel would be listed, and how much commission that would cost. 
 
Unless the website decides to enter into discussions, Meierhans will take a unilateral decision to fix commissions at certain rates, a judgement which could be appealed at the federal civil court.

It’s not the first time Booking.com has been in trouble with the Swiss authorities. 
 
In October 2015 the Swiss competition commission ruled that the site and others like it were imposing certain contractual obligations on hoteliers that were illegal. They did not allow hoteliers to set lower prices or offer a higher number of rooms through other marketing channels. 
Since then Booking.com and Expedia have adopted less restrictive clauses.

Three sites – Booking.com, Expedia and HRS – are responsible for 93% of bookings in Switzerland, with total turnover of an estimated CHF1 billion ($1.04 billion). Booking.com has the lion’s share.