New Delhi, March 30 Morpheus Research released a report on Monday accusing travel booking platform MakeMyTrip of engaging in "anti-competitive practices" despite a significant penalty order from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2022, which directed the company to stop such practices.
According to the report, Morpheus Research, an activist short-seller that disclosed a short position in the company, alleged that MakeMyTrip continues to enforce price parity arrangements with hotel partners.
Morpheus Research highlighted that in October 2022, MakeMyTrip was fined USD 26 million by the CCI for "anti-competitive" and "abusive" practices. After claiming it "voluntarily" addressed the issues, it said in a post on X, "we found evidence that MMYT is openly defying the regulator's order."
A response from MakeMyTrip on the report could not be obtained by
The Morpheus report alleged that the company maintains indirect enforcement of pricing parity through internal mechanisms such as a "price competitiveness score," which can influence hotel rankings on its platform, even in the absence of explicit contractual clauses.
The activist short-seller also alleged accounting irregularities and flagged an exposure to a receivable from insolvent airline GoAir, stating that only part of the amount has been provisioned by MakeMyTrip.
Additionally, it questioned the company's use of adjusted financial metrics, alleging a significant gap between adjusted profits and those reported under international accounting standards in recent years.
"Our investigation, including 103 interviews, reveals that MMYT is engaged in anti-competitive practices despite a significant penalty & stop order from antitrust regulator (CCI) in 2022. We also found a NEW & undisclosed CCI investigation, with a report due in "early 2026," Morpheus Research stated in another post on X.
Further, MMT appears to be padding profits through accounting tricks, downplaying competition as it quietly loses market share, misleading customers through manipulative dark patterns, and by allowing "bad actor" hotels to proliferate on its platform, it said.
After claiming it "voluntarily" addressed the issues, we found evidence that MMT is openly defying the regulator's order, it said in the post.
Quoting hotel executives and former MMT employees, Morpheus Research said they "confirmed" to us that price parity is still widely in force, with enforcement occurring on a daily basis and with hotel partners receiving a parity score.
It also cited several industry experts, saying they confirmed an indirect enforcement tactic previously identified in the CCI order.
Earlier this month, MakeMyTrip said it is evaluating a potential listing of its Indian business in the country to catalyze growth of the brand in its core market, strengthen its leadership in India and support longer-term growth.
The NASDAQ-listed firm said it has completed its internal restructuring to combine its key brands operating in India under a single entity, with the merger of RedBus India into MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt Ltd (MakeMyTrip India).