OTA Discounting Your Rooms? How to Check and Act

Short answer: First check whether the lower price is a promotion or programme you (or someone with extranet access) opted into — these can usually be switched off in the extranet. If you did not opt into anything, compare the price shown to guests against your payout statement or invoice for a booking at that price: that tells you whether the OTA funded the discount or it came out of your side. Keep dated screenshots, then raise it in writing with the OTA's partner support or account manager. In India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has already examined OTA discounting and parity practices and found that the two together can reinforce a dominant platform's position, funded through the commission charged to hotels.

This is general information, not legal advice.

1. First, work out if this is a programme you opted into

Before assuming anything was done without consent, check your own extranet:

• Open Promotions (or the equivalent programmes tab) and look for anything currently switched on.
• Check whether an account manager enrolled the property into a programme on your behalf — this happens, and it is usually reversible.
• Switch off anything you did not knowingly choose.

A lot of "the OTA discounted my room" cases turn out to be a promotion toggle that was left on, or that someone else on the account turned on.

2. If nothing in your extranet explains it, check who is paying for it

Search your own property on the OTA as a guest and note the price shown against your loaded rate. Then look at your payout statement or invoice for a booking made at that price:

• If your payout reflects your loaded rate minus the usual commission, the OTA is likely funding the discount itself.
• If your payout is lower than that, the discount is likely being funded out of your side — effectively a deeper commission on that booking.

Keep dated screenshots of both the guest-facing price and your extranet-loaded rate. These are useful if you need to raise a dispute later.

3. Rule out a channel-manager or rate-loading mistake

Before raising anything with the OTA, confirm the rate shown isn't simply wrong. If you sell on more than one OTA, keeping rates in sync from one place with a channel manager rules out a stale or mismatched rate as the cause, so you're not chasing a dispute over your own loading error.

4. Raise it with the OTA, in writing

If you've checked both of the above and still think a discount is running without your consent:

• Put it in writing to partner support or your account manager — not just a phone call.
• Attach your screenshots with dates, and reference the specific listing and dates affected.
• Ask them to confirm, in writing, which programme (if any) is applying the discount and who is funding it.

5. What the CCI found on discounting and parity in India

The Competition Commission of India's order of 19 October 2022 (Case No. 14 of 2019 with Case No. 01 of 2020) looked at MakeMyTrip-Goibibo's (MMT-Go) parity and discounting practices. CCI found that deep discounts and parity conditions together created an ecosystem that reinforced MMT-Go's dominant position, and it noted that the discounts are admittedly funded through commissions charged to hotels.

CCI directed MMT-Go to:

• Remove price and room availability parity obligations with respect to other OTAs.
• Remove exclusivity conditions.
• Give hotels access on a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory basis, with objective listing terms.
• Disclose properties that are not available on its platform.

MMT-Go was penalised ₹223.48 crore (5% of relevant turnover). See our post on rate parity for more on the order. This order is useful context for why "the discount comes out of the commission you pay" is not a fringe claim — it's something a regulator has already examined.

6. Reduce how much this can affect you

A discount on one OTA matters less if that OTA isn't your only source of bookings. Our post on MakeMyTrip commission for hotels breaks down what hotels report paying in commission on that platform. Growing your own direct bookings — where you set the price — is the other lever; see pricing for plans that include a direct booking page.

Sources: Competition Commission of India, Press Release No. 51/2022, https://www.cci.gov.in/images/pressrelease/en/press-release-no-512022-231666198134.pdf · Press Information Bureau, https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1869330 · CCI Case No. 14 of 2019 with Case No. 01 of 2020, order dated 19 October 2022.