The Fair Trade Commission in Sejong City, South Korea. [Photo by Yu Dae-gil]
A global travel platform has been caught by regulatory authorities for selling airline tickets online without proper registration as an online sales business and for engaging in deceptive refund practices.
On June 1, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has imposed a fine of 10 million won ($10,000) on Trip.com Korea for selling airline tickets without registering as an online sales business and for refunding customers through methods different from their original payment method during the right of withdrawal.
According to the FTC's investigation, Trip.com Singapore provided information on airline ticket sales to domestic consumers through its cyber mall from November 2017 to September 2025 without proper registration. Meanwhile, Trip.com Korea operated without registration from April 2020 to January 2025.
The FTC determined that both Trip.com Singapore and Trip.com Korea violated Article 12, Section 1 of the Electronic Commerce Act by failing to register as online sales intermediaries.
Additionally, the investigation revealed that Trip.com failed to fulfill its obligation to refund customers in accordance with the right of withdrawal and obstructed the withdrawal process. From February 2020 to July 2025, the companies refunded some customers who canceled their ticket purchases with airline vouchers instead of the original payment method.
During this process, Trip.com Singapore and Trip.com Korea informed customers that "refund amounts may only be provided as airline vouchers depending on airline regulations."
The FTC concluded that these actions violated Article 18, Section 3 and Article 21, Section 1 of the Electronic Commerce Act.
As a result, the FTC issued corrective orders for the unregistered online sales business and the failure to refund customers, imposing fines of 5 million won each for both violations.
An FTC official stated, "We plan to continuously monitor compliance with laws regarding the right of withdrawal for consumers by online travel platforms and other platform operators."
On June 1, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced it has imposed a fine of 10 million won ($10,000) on Trip.com Korea for selling airline tickets without registering as an online sales business and for refunding customers through methods different from their original payment method during the right of withdrawal.
According to the FTC's investigation, Trip.com Singapore provided information on airline ticket sales to domestic consumers through its cyber mall from November 2017 to September 2025 without proper registration. Meanwhile, Trip.com Korea operated without registration from April 2020 to January 2025.
The FTC determined that both Trip.com Singapore and Trip.com Korea violated Article 12, Section 1 of the Electronic Commerce Act by failing to register as online sales intermediaries.
Additionally, the investigation revealed that Trip.com failed to fulfill its obligation to refund customers in accordance with the right of withdrawal and obstructed the withdrawal process. From February 2020 to July 2025, the companies refunded some customers who canceled their ticket purchases with airline vouchers instead of the original payment method.
During this process, Trip.com Singapore and Trip.com Korea informed customers that "refund amounts may only be provided as airline vouchers depending on airline regulations."
The FTC concluded that these actions violated Article 18, Section 3 and Article 21, Section 1 of the Electronic Commerce Act.
As a result, the FTC issued corrective orders for the unregistered online sales business and the failure to refund customers, imposing fines of 5 million won each for both violations.
An FTC official stated, "We plan to continuously monitor compliance with laws regarding the right of withdrawal for consumers by online travel platforms and other platform operators."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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