AirAsia MOVE slapped with P6 million fine for 'excessive airfares'
AirAsia MOVE is facing a hefty P6 million penalty after the Civil Aeronautics Board claimed that it was imposing pricey fares to its customers for its services.
In a statement, the Department of Transportation lauded CAB for penalizing the travel app after it "posted excessive and unreasonable airfares on its booking platform."
"The P6 million penalty imposed on AirAsia MOVE sends a clear message: the government will not tolerate any form of abuse to Filipino passengers," they stressed.
The DOTr assured that it will continue to protect the rights of the commuting public and hold accountable those who violate established consumer protection regulations.
Formerly known as the AirAsia Superapp, AirAsia MOVE serves as an online travel agency that allows customers to book flights from over 700 airlines and choose stays from over 900,000 hotels worldwide.
According to its website, the app touts itself as having "best value prices and diverse products and services."
The CAB previously filed a cease and desist order against the platform on May 26. DOTr Sec. Vince Dizon told the media that the case stemmed from the complaint by Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez and his wife, Ormoc Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.
Through AirAsia Move, they booked two one-way flights from Tacloban to Manila via Philippine Airlines worth P77,704, or nearly P40,000 per ticket. But on the Philippine Airlines website, Dizon pointed out that the flights should have cost P49,507.
While AirAsia has yet to issue a statement addressing the penalty, AirAsia MOVE chief executive officer Nadia Omer earlier explained that it "does not manually set or manipulate airfares."
"As an online travel agency, MOVE displays flight inventory and pricing data as provided by its authorized upstream suppliers, including third-party aggregators and global distribution systems," she said in a statement last June 2.
"The discrepancies in fare displays for certain routes, including domestic flights operated by Philippine Airlines, were caused by temporary data synchronization issues with flight pricing partners," she added.
Omer further asserted that the technical discrepancy is not isolated to MOVE as it also affected other booking platforms across the industry, including Agoda, Kiwi.com, and Traveloka.
She stated that MOVE has now brought up the matter with the third-party pricing provider for immediate resolution and that they are "fully compliant with all regulatory requirements applicable to online travel agencies."
PhilSTAR L!fe has reached out to AirAsia MOVE for comment, but has yet to receive a reply.
