Key facts
- Chinese regulators summoned seven major online travel service providers.
- Trip.com and Meituan were among the platforms summoned.
- The regulators demanded rectification of deceptive train ticket sales practices.
- Data privacy violations were also a focus of the regulatory talks.
- Practices targeted included fake ticket acceleration fees and improper harvesting of personal information.
Chinese regulators have summoned seven major online travel service providers, including Trip.com and Meituan, to address deceptive train ticket sales and data privacy violations. The State Administration for Market Regulation, along with cyberspace and railway authorities, held talks with the companies on Thursday. Officials targeted platforms such as Tongcheng Travel Holdings Ltd., Qunar, Fliggy, Suanya.com, and Gao Tie Guan Jia. The regulators demanded that these platforms rectify practices including aggressively marketing fake ticket acceleration fees, encouraging passengers to book mismatched travel routes, and improperly harvesting personal information.