CCPA cracks down on hotels over false claims

Online travel aggregators often get away with blaming hotels for misleading consumers, but they may not be able to for too long.

- Dhirendra Kumar

If the hotel room you booked via a travel aggregator falls short of what was promised online, India’s consumer protection watchdog wants to hold the booking platform accountable.

While properties making misleading claims would have to be delisted from platforms such as MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, and Yatra, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) also plans to fix responsibility on aggregators that fail to vet property claims or don’t act on consumer complaints.

“The CCPA has come to know through various social media posts that several online platforms are failing to verify the authenticity of claims made by property owners and are listing properties without proper checks. This constitutes an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act,” an official involved in CCPA’s process told Mint.