The Federal Court has handed down the fine after the OTA was found to have misled customers about the price of flights.
Webjet will pay $9 million in penalties after admitting to making false or misleading statements between 2018-2023, when it advertised airfares that excluded compulsory fees.
The statements were made on its website, and in promotional emails and social media posts.
The company also owned up to providing false or misleading booking confirmations to 118 consumers for flight bookings which had not actually been confirmed, between 2019 and 2024.
“We took this case because we considered that Webjet used misleading pricing by excluding or not adequately disclosing compulsory fees in its ads,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don’t tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law.”
Webjet co-operated with the ACCC, admitted liability and agreed to make joint submissions to the Court about orders, including the penalty.
More details in tomorrow’s issue of Travel Daily.