US FTC’s new rule prohibits hidden fees in hotel and ticket pricing

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has introduced a final rule prohibiting hotels, ticketing agencies, and short-term rental companies from incorporating hidden junk fees in their overall pricing.

This move aims to ensure consumers are presented with transparent pricing information before agreeing to pay.

The rule requires businesses to display the total price, encompassing all additional fees, more than other pricing details.

The regulation received bipartisan backing among the FTC commissioners and the approval vote of four commissioners. Andrew Ferguson was the only dissenter.

Ferguson, who has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to replace Lina Khan as FTC chair, said his choice to oppose the rule was unrelated to its advantages, as reported by CNN.

He expressed his belief that President Biden’s FTC should not issue new rules following Trump’s election win.

Ferguson said: “I dissent only on the ground that the time for rulemaking by the Biden-Harris FTC is over.

“My vote… should not be understood to state my position on the Final Rule’s merits, or on whether the Commission under President Trump should enforce the Final Rule.”

Following the endorsement of the regulation, the FTC will be empowered to levy financial sanctions on entities that neglect to provide consumers with their complete pricing details in advance.

The regulation is set to be implemented 120 days post-announcement, by which time Biden will have vacated office.

In the last three years, the FTC has pursued actions against companies such as Invitation Homes and Vonage for imposing unnecessary charges on consumers, according to the CNN report.

According to the FTC, the newly proposed regulation is anticipated to save consumers as much as 53 million hours annually that would otherwise be spent scouting for the full price of tickets for live events and short-term accommodation.

This reduction in time spent is projected to equate to a financial saving of more than $11bn throughout the next ten years.

“US FTC’s new rule prohibits hidden fees in hotel and ticket pricing” was originally created and published by Hotel Management Network, a GlobalData owned brand.