Indian Competition Regulator Fines MakeMyTrip and Oyo for Monopolistic Behavior

JAKARTA - India's competition regulator announced on Wednesday 19 October that it has fined online hotel booking companies MakeMyTrip Ltd and Goibibo and IPO-bound hotel chain Oyo for anti-competitive behavior.

The Indian Competition Commission (CCI) has been investigating the company since 2019 following allegations by the local hotel body that MakeMyTrip was giving special treatment to SoftBank-backed Oyo on its platform.

CCI has directed MakeMyTrip and Goibibo to change their market behavior after fined them around 27 million US dollars. Oyo himself was fined 20 million US dollars.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, OYO said it had received a copy of the CCI order and was reviewing it in detail.

"OYO believes that our business practices and conduct comply with all applicable laws and will take all necessary steps to explain our position in appropriate forums," the company said.

The Federation of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Associations (FHRAI) alleges that an agreement between Oyo and Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip to give Oyo preferential treatment on its platform limits market access to competitors such as Fab Hotels and Treebo.

"The Commission is of the view that the commercial arrangement between OYO and MMT-Go which led to the delisting of FabHotels, Treebo and independent hotels, which take advantage of the services of these franchisors, is anti-competitive," the CCI said in its order.

FHRAI also alleged that Oyo and MakeMyTrip hurt competition by offering heavy discounts and charging hotels "exorbitant" fees. While MakeMyTrip did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.