China fines Trip.com 5.2 billion yuan over online hotel-booking monopoly

China's market regulator said it had fined and confiscated a total of 5.2 billion yuan (US$770 million) from Trip.com Group for abusing its dominant position in the domestic online hotel-booking market, Channel News Asia reported from Beijing. The State Administration for Market Regulation confiscated 1.66 billion yuan in illegal gains and imposed a fine of 3.52 billion yuan. Trip.com, China's largest online travel platform and owner of brands including Ctrip, Skyscanner and Qunar, used traffic-allocation mechanisms, platform rules and technical measures to strike exclusive deals with some hotels as it sought to offer the lowest prices, the regulator said. The agency said the practices harmed competition and consumers by restricting hotels' ability to operate across platforms and set their own prices. SAMR also ordered Trip.com to refund booking deposits of 122 million yuan that it said the company had withheld from hotel operators. Trip.com said it sincerely accepts the decision and will fully comply, implementing each rectification measure. China began an antitrust investigation in Jan following complaints that Trip.com had imposed unfair terms on hotels and manipulated pricing. The penalty comes as Beijing moves to curb unfair competition among internet platforms.