Italian competition authority fines eDreams $10.6M for ‘unfair commercial practices’

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) said Wednesday it has fined online travel company eDreams 9 million euros ($10.6 million) for “unfair commercial practices.”

“The Italian Competition Authority has fined Vacaciones eDreams S.L., eDreams International Network S.L. and eDreams S.r.l. a total of 9 million euros for engaging in two separate unfair commercial practices involving visual and emotional persuasion in the digital environment through dark patterns,” AGCM said in a written statement.

The authority said the companies used “misleading claims and undue influence techniques, including manipulative strategies,” to induce consumers to subscribe to their Prime service while offering flights and accommodation through their website and mobile application.

“To this end, eDreams provided ambiguous information about the features and benefits of the Prime subscription, and relied on time-pressure techniques and artificial scarcity to rush purchasing decisions and steer consumers towards subscribing to Prime,” the statement said.

The authority also said it identified “misleading claims about subscription discounts and a lack of transparency regarding the existence of price differences.”

“Consumers’ freedom of choice was further compromised by the fact that eDreams preselected the most expensive subscription option, namely Prime Plus. In addition, users who were not eligible for the free trial were nonetheless steered towards it and then immediately charged the annual subscription fee, without adequate prior notification,” it added.