The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division are closely monitoring a lawsuit regarding alleged collusion in hotel room pricing.
According to a press release issued by the FTC, the two federal agencies have submitted a "statement of interest" to the District of New Jersey in the Cornish-Adebivi v. Ceasar's Entertainment case.
Hotels have been found to be raising their rates in violation of the law. According to a recent lawsuit filed in the United States, this is what has been alleged. A legal action has been filed by the US District Court Northern District of Illinois, claiming that several luxury hotels have violated antitrust laws.
US Lawsuit Claims Hotels Illegally Increase Rates!
The new federal action lawsuit named various hotels, which can be found in Charlotte in Uptown. Among the luxury hotel chains in the lawsuit are the following:
- Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- Four Seasons Hotels
- Marriott, Ritz-Carlton
- Omni Hotels
- Loews Corporation
- Amadeus Hospitality Americas
- Accor
- InterContinental Hotels Group
- Hyatt Hotels
- Minor Hotel Group
The legal action claims that these luxury hotel chains violated antitrust laws by using technologies to set and share rates, as reported by Yahoo News.
What to Know About Price-Fixing
In the US, price-fixing is considered to be illegal in many states. The Federal Trade Commission explained that price-fixing is an agreement between hotels to maintain, stabilize, lower, and raise prices.
The antitrust laws in the US strictly require hotel chains to establish prices and other competitive terms without agreeing with their competitors.
The Verge reported that the Department of Justice and FTC have been investigating price-fixing lawsuits against hotels in the United States.
"Judicial treatment of the use of algorithms in price fixing has tremendous practical importance," said FTC and the DOJ.
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