Online travel company MakeMyTrip (MMT) has introduced the ‘Book with No Payment’ feature, enabling domestic and international travellers to book a hotel on Goibibo or MMT without any upfront payment. 

The feature will benefit travellers with uncertain travel plans or those who book much ahead of the travel date by giving them the option to pay later. This includes up to 72 hours before check-in, as per hotel policy, easing any travel-related financial anxiety.

Travellers can pay Rs 1 to authenticate their digital payment method to make a hotel booking. In case of an unfulfilled booking, MMT will automatically refund the booking amount, i.e., Rs 1, in the original payment mode.

Vipul Prakash, MMT’s chief operating officer, said, “Within the first month of launch, we observed a significant uptick in the use of this feature across the country with a spike in hotel bookings slated to be actualised two months from now. Significantly, 35 per cent of the bookings, leveraging the feature, are from tier 2 and 3 markets.”

MakeMyTrip launched a high-blitz ad campaign highlighting how the travel booking experience is evolving fast with key message of ‘Thinking badlo, kyunki travel ab… badal gaya hai’ (Change your thinking, as travel has now changed). Featuring brand ambassadors Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh, it highlighted how travel plans are now possible with easy finance and flexibility options across eight lakh hotels and homestays listed on its platform.

On 20 October 2022, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined MakeMyTrip Ltd and Goibibo $27 million and Oyo Rs 20 million for anti-competitive behaviour. The industry watchdog was investigating these companies since 2019 following allegations by a trade association that MakeMyTrip gave special treatment to Oyo on its platform. 

MMT posted revenues of $88.6 million for Q4 of 2022 as compared to $79.2 million in the same period last year. Its revenues for FY 2021-22 stood at $303.9 million, which is almost double from $163.4 million in FY 2019-21.