Australia’s antitrust regulator has filed a lawsuit towards Airbnb, accusing the accommodation-sharing web site of deceptive customers into paying greater than marketed for his or her stays, widening its scrutiny of world know-how platforms.

From 2018 to 2021, the San Francisco-based web large marketed and charged room charges in United States {dollars} with out indicating the a lot increased figures in Australian {dollars}, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) mentioned in a courtroom submitting that it made public on Wednesday.

Airbnb refused to refund customers who complained about being misled, saying they’d chosen to view charges in US {dollars} though customers mentioned they’d not, the ACCC mentioned within the submitting. Airbnb additionally refused to refund foreign money conversion charges, claiming they have been banks’ duty, the regulator mentioned.

Airbnb was not obtainable for remark.

The lawsuit places Airbnb within the firm of a number of high-profile targets of a regulator bent on reining within the energy of massive know-how corporations. Last 12 months, its actions led to Meta’s Facebook and Alphabet’s Google paying media shops content material licensing charges.

It is presently conducting a evaluate of Amazon and different on-line retailers that will suggest adjustments to the sector.

In the Airbnb lawsuit, the ACCC mentioned customers “were deprived of the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether and at what price to book accommodation.”

They “suffered further harm in the form of price difference costs and, in at least some cases, transaction fee costs,” the regulator mentioned, with out giving greenback quantities.

Airbnb stood to learn unfairly over opponents as a result of the “false and misleadingly low prices conveyed … made the accommodation available on the platform appear to be more attractive,” the ACCC mentioned.

The ACCC mentioned it’s in search of an unspecified effective and courtroom orders for Airbnb to compensate affected clients. In an announcement, it mentioned 1000’s of individuals had complained to Airbnb concerning the distinction in marketed costs and quantities charged.

The Australian greenback purchased a mean of 72 US cents in the course of the time coated by the lawsuit, that means a buyer renting lodging marketed at $500 (roughly Rs. 38,900) would really pay round A$700 (roughly Rs. 39,200) plus international alternate charges, the regulator mentioned.

© Thomson Reuters 2022