The Australian Federal Court ordered Airbnb to pay a fine of $15 million and the company must also pay more than $15 million in compensation for making misleading statements to more than 70,000 customers.
Airbnb was sanctioned on December 20 for failing to disclose that the amount of transactions was in US dollars rather than Australian dollars, The Guardian reported.
The “$” designation was not precise between January 2018 and August 2021. During this period, 63,000 users made 77,000 reservations.
The court recalled that 2,088 Australian consumers had complained to Airbnb.
The company admitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (CACC) that it had breached Australian consumer law.
Airbnb has already refunded 8,000 users the full accommodation price of 9.4 million Australian dollars, but the court found that the full value of the difference between the Australian and US prices for the reservations in question was 16.8 million US dollars fraud.
The company said a computer error was the cause of the problem and that it has now been resolved.
CACC Chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the outcome of the court case was “significant” for customers.
“Eligible consumers will be contacted by Airbnb within the next 45 days and asked to file a claim,” she said. They can also contact Airbnb to ask questions about their claim if they believe they are entitled to compensation and have not been contacted.”