Trip.com Loses Lawsuit Over Undisclosed Third-Party Bookings

Trip.com has lost a fraud lawsuit after the Chinese travel giant failed to notify a customer he was buying a hotel room from a third-party agent on its platform, leading the court to criticize the company for allowing price gouging on its platform.

Nasdaq-listed Trip.com Group Ltd. must pay the plaintiff, surnamed Hu, a total of 6,045.48 yuan ($948.50), according to a Tuesday ruling (link in Chinese) by the Shaoxing Intermediate People’s Court in East China’s Zhejiang province. The court upheld a decision made by a lower court in the city in July last year.