Chinese regulators summon top online travel, ticketing platforms over misleading sales practices

Chinese regulators summoned seven major online travel and ticketing platforms on Thursday over misleading train ticket sales practices, strengthening regulation of third-party booking services that have become increasingly popular among travelers seeking scarce rail tickets.

The State Administration for Market Regulation, together with the Cyberspace Administration of China and the National Railway Administration, said it had called in executives from major platforms, namely Trip.com Group, Tongcheng Travel, Qunar, Fliggy, Meituan, Zhixing Train Tickets and Gaotie Guanjia, over a range of business practices.

Regulators cited concerns over the promotion of paid "ticket grabbing" services for waitlisted rail tickets, paid seat selection features, and practices that allegedly encouraged users to purchase longer or shorter routes than needed in an effort to secure tickets.

China's railway ticket market is led by the State-run 12306 ticketing system. Third-party travel platforms have built large businesses around providing booking assistance, waitlist services and ticket search functions, particularly during peak travel periods when tickets become difficult to obtain.

The SAMR ordered the companies to comply strictly with laws governing unfair competition, consumer protection, e-commerce and personal information protection, and to take responsibility for standardizing train ticket sales practices.