SINGAPORE, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) issued here Wednesday an infringement decision with a total fine of 1.5 million Singapore dollars (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars) to four hotels for sharing sensitive information.
The four hotels were found sharing commercially sensitive information including the discount offered to corporate customers from July 2014 to June 2015. CCCS obtained the WhatsApp conversations between various sales representatives indicating the information-sharing when it filed a raid on June 30, 2015.
"The exchange of non-public commercially sensitive information between competitors is harmful to competition and customers in the market as it reduces the competitive pressures faced by competitors in determining their commercial decisions, including the price they will offer to customers," said the competition commission's chief executive Toh Han Li.
Based on their internal intelligence, CCCS launched an investigation on some 30 hotels before narrowing to the four.
