MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo Banned In Ahmedabad? Hotel Association Warn Customers Against Online Bookings

Since past 24 hours, rumors are floating that leading digital hotel aggregators: MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo have been banned in Ahmedabad.

Who has banned them? What is the truth?

Let’s find out!

MakeMyTrip, GoIbiBo Banned – This Is Fake News

Except for Govt. of India, no one has the authority to ban or block any service, anywhere in the country.

The news that MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo have been banned in Ahmedabad and surrounding areas is completely false.

You can open makemytrip.com/app or GoIbibo app/website and make the bookings for Ahmedabad hotels.

But What Is The Issue Here?

The news about MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo banned has been circulating on Whatsapp, which have been most probably circulated by a Hotel Association in Gujarat.

This is Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA), which claims to have 270 hotels under their belt.

They have declared a war against MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo, and have refused to work with them. Infact, all online bookings made by customers using these apps/services will be canceled by these 270-odd hotels.

Customers will be asked to make a fresh booking, using their own website or offline mode.

Spokesperson of HRA said, “As decided, around 270 hotels in the city have stopped entertaining customers who had booked their rooms through these two portals,”

Another official from HRA said, “In case your family members, colleagues or any known person is travelling to Ahmedabad, and if they have made a booking from Goibibo.com or MakeMyTrip.com they may face serious issues.”

As per the Association, the protest and the strike will soon spread to entire India.

But Why?

This Hotel Association claims that aggregators such as MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo offer extra discounts to the customers, which harm their reputation, and takes them away from the hotel.

Besides, the commission charged is much more, which eats away their profits.

Hotels are suffering from both the ends, and this should stop.

Abhijeet Deshmukh, spokesperson, HRA – Gujarat said, “There was a time when online booking portals used to charge only 15 to 18 per cent as commission. Now, these two portals are charging 40 to 45 per cent. Further, indiscriminate discounts offered by them on room tariffs is also a major threat to our business these days”

HRA is claiming that these aggregators are forming a lobby, which will create a monopoly of these platforms, and diktat terms with Hotels later on.

By offering deep discounts, MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo is luring customers away from these hotels.

Ok, What Next?

Since the marriage season is about to hit entire India, Gujarat and Ahmedabad is expecting a flood of tourists in December and January. And the timing of this battle between Hotels and online aggregators can cause some issues.

But there is no nothing to worry. HRA and the hotels want that the customers only book from their hotel, and not via MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo.

Narendra Somani, the president of HRA, Gujarat has claimed, “We have notified customers that we will not serve those showing hotel booking vouchers provided by either of these portals. To prevent further inconvenience to customers, we have offered the rooms to them at the same rate, on the condition that they cancel the booking made through MakeMyTrip or Goibibo.”

MakeMyTrip has refused to acknowledge this strike, and have said, “As always, all bookings on our platform are being serviced without any hassle to the customer. We continue to operate our business as usual.”

When folks from The Better India tried to book some hotel rooms via GoIbibo, the booking went fine. However, when they contacted a hotel in Ahmedabad, they refused to accept GoIbibo or MakeMyTrip based bookings.

We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.

Also Read: Restaurants Rebel Against Swiggy, Uber Eats, Zomato, Food Panda; Kochi Declares Food App Ban