Hungary competition watchdog gives itself another to look into Booking.com

News portal index.hu recalled on Monday that the GVH launched its fast-track sector inquiry on 24 August, but this has now been extended by one month, as "further time is needed to fully explore and assess market developments."

On 6 September, the GVH's investigators raided Booking.com's Budapest office and announced that data collection is ongoing there and that they may soon find out whether the Dutch accommodation broker's contractual and enforcement practices have infringed free competition in the online accommodation booking market.

According to market information received by the GVH, Booking.com's terms and conditions and business practices have caused significant disruption to the business of a number of domestic accommodation providers, with dozens of complaints in recent weeks that they have not received the accommodation fees they were due.

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