OFT probes online hotel booking price fixing claims

17 September 2010 by
OFT probes online hotel booking price fixing claims

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has opened an investigation into allegations of price fixing in the online sale of hotel rooms.

The investigation comes after a complaint from discount website Skoosh.com.

In a statement the OFT said that its investigations were at a "very early stage" and it still needed to look at all available evidence before it decided whether the law had been infringed.

"The OFT is conducting a formal investigation into suspected breaches of competition law in the hotel online booking sector and has written to a number of parties in the industry to request information," it said.

Skoosh.com's complain centres on claims that hotels threatened it with legal action because it was discounting rooms, rather than offering prices in line with "rate parity".

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By Neil Gerrard

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