Japan’s trade watchdog is investigating the operators of three travel booking websites on suspicion that they pressured hotels and other accommodations they deal with to offer prices that were equal to, or lower than, those on other websites.
The subjects of the investigation are the Japanese units of the US-based Expedia and the Dutch-based Booking.com, as well as Japanese IT firm Rakuten, which operates Rakuten Travel.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission suspects that the practices could constitute unfair transactions in violation of the Antimonopoly Act.
Rakuten issued a statement saying it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Earlier, the commission began investigations of the global tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, looking into whether the firms that operate service platforms for information networks and e-commerce are forcing domestic businesses into unfair deals.
Full Content: Asia Nikkei
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