Budget carrier AirAsia has been slapped with a hefty fine for not including taxes and other charges on its website.
The airline was fined A$200,000 in the Melbourne Federal Court today for contravening the single pricing provision of the Australian Consumer Law, said the Australian Associated Press.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the case followed a 10-month period during which the
www.airasia.com website did not display some airfare prices inclusive of all taxes, duties, fees and other mandatory charges "in a prominent way and as a single figure".
The fine related to flights between Melbourne and Macau, London, Ho Chi Minh City, New Delhi, Hangzhou and Chengdu, as well as, from Perth to Taipei, Phuket, Osaka, London, Ho Chi Minh City and Hangzhou and from the Gold Coast to Ho Chi Minh City.
Justice Tracey said unless the full price is prominently displayed the consumer may well be attracted to a transaction which he or she would not otherwise have found to be appealing and grudgingly pay the additional imposts rather than go to the trouble of withdrawing from the transaction and looking elsewhere.
He said the company would also obtain an advantage over competitors who are compliant.
He accepted a court undertaking from Air Asia Bhd restraining it from engaging in similar conduct for three years.
"This ACCC action vindicates the importance of all inclusive pricing.
"Consumers must have accurate price information, and in turn, airlines require a level playing field on price representations in this competitive industry where consumers are price sensitive," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims told AAP.
BERNAMA 18th December 2012..