The State Administration for Market Regulation, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Railway Administration recently summoned seven third-party travel platforms to regulatory meetings over irregular business practices in train ticket sales. The platforms were Trip.com Group, Tongcheng Travel, Qunar, Fliggy, Meituan, Zhixing Train Ticket, and Gaotie Guanjia.
The regulators cited issues including improper promotion of waitlist ticket assistance and paid seat selection, inducements for users to buy longer-distance tickets and get off early, or to buy shorter-distance tickets and travel beyond their ticketed destination, as well as improper collection and use of personal information. Regulators said they would step up enforcement.
The meetings addressed disorder in the train ticketing businesses of online travel companies. They also exposed a deeper contest over travel traffic.
As regulation tightens, the traffic logic that traditional online travel agencies (OTAs) have relied on is starting to weaken. At the same time, the possibility that 12306 China Railway, the official railway ticketing platform, could expand further into hotels and travel services has introduced a new variable for the online travel industry.
