Fines of over four million to online tour operators for lack of transparency and credit card commissions. The Antitrust has imposed them, announcing that it has “concluded six investigative proceedings against professionals who operate as agencies and online travel comparators through the websites www.it.lastminute.com, www.volagratis.com, www.opodo. it, www.govolo.it, www.edreams.it, www.gotogate.it”.
The investigations were also launched on the basis of reports received from consumer associations and the outcome of the 2016 Sweep, i.e. the verification activity of 352 websites of travel comparison sites in the EU coordinated by the European Commission.
On the sites in question, the Authority found the presence of "insufficiently transparent and immediately understandable information for the consumer - continues the Authority - which hindered the exercise of the related rights, referring to the responsibilities of the subject offering the intermediation, to the identity of the hotel booking platform, to the criteria on the basis of which the discounts applied are calculated”.
The disputes also concerned the application of a price surcharge in relation to the type of payment card used to purchase flights (credit card surcharge).
The Authority explains that with these investigations, "the action to combat a practice that slows the development of electronic commerce and imposes a transaction cost which consumers are unable to avoid, unless they choose forms of purchase and payment" continues more uncomfortable".
In some cases, “the provision of a number for after-sales telephone assistance at a premium rate and the absence of an electronic address that the consumer can use to communicate effectively with the professional was also considered illicit. At the end of the preliminary proceedings, for the aforementioned violations, administrative fines exceeding a total of 4 million euros were imposed on the professionals involved”, concludes the Antitrust.
