Business & Economy

Australia slaps $10 million fine on Airbnb for misleading users

Sydney, Australia, Dec 20 (EFE).- A court in Australia on Wednesday ordered accommodation provider Airbnb to pay a AUD15 million ($10.2 million) fine for deceiving about 63,000 customers in the country by putting prices in US dollars without specifying that it was doing so.

Airbnb Ireland, which operates the website and apps for users in Australia, admitted that between Jan. 1, 2018 and Aug. 30, 2021, it charged in US dollars for accommodations in the Oceania country instead of Australian dollars without making it clear to the customers.

The value of the US dollar is historically higher than that of the Australian dollar, and currently the exchange rate is $1 to AUD1.48.

Federal Court Judge Shaun McElwain ruled that Airbnb breached Australian laws because it “engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead,” according to the ruling published on the court’s website.

Although the extra profits that Airbnb obtained cannot be “accurately” quantified, the court estimated that the difference in prices charged by the platform in that period was around AUD16.8 million.

“Airbnb received revenue, not profit, from the relevant reservations of approximately AUD9 million,” the ruling said.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which took Airbnb to court, said that due to the platform’s practice of charging in US dollars, customers were “deprived of a chance to make an informed decision about whether to make the booking because of this misleading conduct regarding the price.”

“We took this case to send a strong signal to large digital platforms like Airbnb that they must comply with the Australian Consumer Law and not mislead consumers,” she added in a statement.

Airbnb will also offer up to AUD15 million in compensation to eligible consumers, as well as cover the ACCC’s legal costs.

The average compensation payment is expected to be about AUD230 per consumer although the exact amount will vary depending on the cost of their booking and the exchange rate on that date, according to the ACCC.

As a result of the complaints, Airbnb has, since Aug. 31, 2021, clearly denoted prices in US dollar through the use of the abbreviation “USD,” the Australian competition regulator said. EFE

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