Spain’s anti-trust watchdog, the CNMC, has imposed a €413.2 million ($448 million) fine on online reservation group Booking.com for abusing its dominant market position in the country over the past five years.
The fines are divided into two penalties of €206.6 million each, targeting Booking.com, a unit of New York-listed Booking Holdings.
The CNMC’s investigation revealed that since 2019, Booking.com has leveraged its 70 percent-90 percent market share to impose unfair conditions on hotels and restrict competition from other providers. The booking platform was found to prohibit hotels from offering lower prices on their own websites than on Booking.com and unilaterally imposed price discounts on hotel rooms without consulting the hotels, Reuters news report said.
Booking Holdings has expressed strong disagreement with the CNMC’s findings and intends to appeal the fines. A company spokesperson mentioned that the issue should be assessed under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act rules. The group has the option to appeal the fines in Spain’s high court.
The proceedings were initiated following complaints filed in 2021 by the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers (AEDH) and the Madrid Hotel Business Association. The CNMC also noted that Booking.com forces Spanish hotels to resolve conflicts in the Netherlands and offers benefits to hotels that generate more fees for the platform, thereby limiting the ability of alternative service providers to compete.
