MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Booking.com B.V. against the Federal Antimonopoly Service’s decision over the abuse of market dominance by the company, RAPSI has learnt in the court. 

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) earlier fined Booking.com B.V. managing Booking.com aggregator (The Netherlands) 1.3 billion rubles ($17.5 million) for abusing market dominance.

In December 2020, the watchdog completed consideration of an antimonopoly case against Booking.com B.V. launched upon an application filed by the All-Russian public organization of small and medium business Opora Russia.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service revealed that the company had abused its power at Russia’s accommodation reservation market forcing contract terms of the need of obligatory provision and enforcing price and room parity as well as conditions of compatibility with closed user groups upon hotels and hostels. This meant that the hotels could not set prices for their services on other websites lower than on Booking.com., the statement reads.

The regulator held that such actions of the aggregator restricted market competition and led to the infringement of the hotels interests.

Booking.com registered in Amsterdam provides an online accommodation reservation service in more than 200 countries.