The Australian Competition regulator said on Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit against airbnb in the Australian federal court, accusing it of misleading consumers in terms of accommodation prices The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement that during the period from January 2018 to August 2021, abiying misled Australian consumers by using only the "$" symbol to display accommodation prices without clarifying that these prices were displayed in US dollars instead of Australian dollars.
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ACCC said it would seek fines and orders to compensate consumers who were misled in pricing and other aspects.
The regulator also said that when abiying received a complaint about the price, they told the customer that the reason why the price was displayed in US dollars was that the user chose this currency, which is often not the case.
ACCC chairman Gina Cass Gottlieb said: "the misleading behavior of airbnb means that consumers are deprived of the opportunity to make an informed choice on the airbnb platform about whether and at what price to book vacation accommodation. In addition to paying higher than expected prices, some consumers who receive US dollar handling fees also find that the currency exchange fees charged by their credit card suppliers make them spend more money."