The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda, headed by Pablo Bustinduy, has fined the online tourist accommodation rental platform Airbnb 64 million euros (64,055,311 €) for, among other reasons, publishing advertisements for unlicensed tourist accommodations.
The resolution is final and exhausts the administrative route after the appeal filed with the Minister of Consumer Affairs has been resolved. The resolution also implies two accessory sanctions that oblige the platform to rectify the identified breaches, eliminating the illicit content published, and to make the imposed fine public.
The consumer regulations infringements, identified in a total of 65,122 listings on Airbnb, which have led to this resolution are four. Each one below.
The most serious is for unfair commercial practices with consumers and users (infringement under letter M of article 47.1 of the TRLGDCU, consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users).
For publishing advertisements for tourist accommodations without a license, for publishing them indicating a license or registration number that does not correspond to the numbering used by the registries, or for publishing advertisements without truthful information about the legal nature of the hosts, thus engaging in misleading advertising practices.
The penalty for this serious infraction amounts to 64,055,311 euros. This sum is equivalent to six times the illicit profit obtained by Airbnb as a consequence of the sanctioned practices during the time the advertisements remained published from the warning issued by the Ministry until their removal by the platform.
The High Court of Justice of Madrid had previously upheld the withdrawal order issued by the Ministry in various rulings.
The **second infraction** is for non-compliance with the regime or obligations of **distance contracts** (infraction in letter T of article 47.1 of the TRLGDCU), such as omitting information about the **legal nature of the host** of the tourist accommodation advertised on this platform. A **minor** infraction, fined **10,000 euros**.
The third is for obstruction or refusal to provide data or to facilitate information, surveillance, or inspection functions (infraction under letter I of article 47.1 of the TRLGDCU), as the platform did not respond to Consumer’s requests during the investigation of this file. A minor infraction punishable by 10,000 euros.
**In fourth place**, the **breach of duties and prohibitions** imposed by provisional orders or measures issued by the investigating body to prevent the occurrence or continuation of risks or harm to consumers and users during the processing of the file is sanctioned (infraction under letter O of article 47.1 of the TRLGDCU). A serious infraction sanctioned with **55,000 euros.**
