(This article is authored by Alar) 

Under the grounds of practising unethical marketing standards, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has levied a hectic fine on popular Indian companies like MakeMyTrip-Goibibo, and OYO and these companies are into travel and hospitality services.  

On Wednesday, a fine of a whopping Rs 392 crore was imposed on them and CCI said that the fine was levied for the company's abuse of its dominant position and anti-competitive arrangement. According to the accusations, these companies are required to observe a price parity in their contracts with hotel partners. According to such contracts, the hotel partners are not allowed to offer their rooms for sale at a lower price on the platforms of the two entities or any other platform. 

In addition to the fines, CCI has sent a strong warning to companies in the same industry to change their contracts with hotels and hotel chains. After conducting a thorough investigation and finding the startups responsible for booking hotels guilty of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour in violation of the law, CCI has upped the ante by hitting them with hefty fines.  

According to the 131-page CCI order, MakeMyTrip-Goibibo must pay Rs 223.48 crore ($27 million) and OYO Rs 168.88 crore ($20 million) for the companies' purportedly anti-competitive actions. Make My Trip-Goibibo was directed by the commission to ''suitably modify its agreements with hotels/chain hotels to remove/abandon the price and room availability parity obligations imposed by it on its hotel/chain hotel partners with respect to other OTAs (Online Travel Agencies)". 

It was also alleged that MakeMyTrip (MMT) gave preferential treatment to OYO on its platform, further leading to a denial of market access to other players. The competition watchdog on Thursday said, "CCI has imposed monetary as well as behavioural sanctions on MMT-Go (MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo) for abusing its dominant position and also for having an anti-competitive arrangement with OYO (Oravel Stays Limited). The monetary penalty is also imposed on OYO for its anti-competitive arrangement with MMT-Go vide which MMT-Go delisted the competitors of OYO from its online portals in 2018,"