a day ago
AirAsia MOVE gets P6M fine for ‘excessive airfares'
Flights, accommodations, and rides booking platform AirAsia MOVE was slapped with a P6 million penalty after government officials flagged it over alleged 'excessive' one-way plane tickets.
In a statement on Friday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it welcomed the Civil Aeronautics Board's (CAB) 'swift action' in penalizing AirAsia MOVE '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,' the DOTr said.
'The DOTr will continue to protect the rights of the commuting public and to hold accountable those who violate established consumer protection regulations,' DOTR added.
GMA News Online reached out to AirAsia MOVE for comment. The story will be updated once a response has been received.
Previously, AirAsia MOVE chief executive officer Nadia Omer said it does not manually set or manipulate airfares, as it clarified that it is an online travel agency that displays flight inventory and pricing as provided by its authorized upstream suppliers.
'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 said.
Omer also said that they have taken 'immediate steps' and brought up the matter with the third-party pricing provider for resolution and have since enhanced safeguards to prevent a repeat of the situation..
'MOVE has been working closely with relevant authorities and is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements applicable to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) operating in the Philippines,' she said.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon earlier said he was seeking the filing of charges and closure of AirAsia MOVE, citing Leyte Representative Richard Gomez's report that the lawmaker and his wife bought two one-way tickets from Tacloban to Manila for P77,704 through the Malaysia-based booking platform.
Dizon also said that airline firm AirAsia does not have anything to do with the platform.
'They're affiliated but I don't think AirAsia, in fairness to AirAsia Philippines, no, the airline… I don't think they have anything to do with this,' Dizon said.
The controversial flight rates came to light amid the ongoing repair of the San Juanico Bridge, which disrupted movement in the Eastern Visayas causing passenger and cargo fares to spike. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
