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‘Malicious or motivated’: MakeMyTrip hits back at EaseMyTrip founder’s allegations on defence bookings, China link
MakeMyTrip reacted to EaseMyTrip founder Nishant Pitti’s allegations. The travel aggregator said it has diverse shareholder base spanning the globe.
MakeMyTrip (MMT) has reacted to the allegations by Nishant Pitti, founder and chairman of travel aggregator site EaseMyTrip, about the company's site having a loophole, which puts the data of defence personnel, who use the site for bookings, at risk. In an X post, Pitti talked about this "loophole", claiming the site was “majorly owned by China”. In a statement to HT.com, a MMT spokesperson stated, “MakeMyTrip is a proud Indian company, founded by Indians, headquartered in India”.
What did Nishant Pitti accuse MMT of?
“Indian Armed Forces book discounted tickets via a platform majorly owned by China, entering Defence ID, route & date. Our enemies know where our soldiers are flying. Attaching screenshots exposing this loophole - it must be patched now,” Patti wrote in his X post.
He shared a series of screenshots, including one showing that Defence members must provide their ID numbers on the MMT site to get “Armed Forces” discounts.
In a follow-up post on the thread, he shared a screenshot that claims a “significant stake” in MakeMyTrip is owned by Trip.com Group Limited (formerly Ctrip)—“a leading Chinese online travel agency.”
MakeMyTrip responds to EaseMyTrip founder's allegations
“MakeMyTrip is a proud Indian company, founded by Indians, headquartered in India, and trusted by millions of Indian travellers for over 25 years. We are a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq, with a diverse shareholder base spanning the globe. Our operations are independent, steered by a seasoned team of Indian professionals who bring a wealth of expertise and a commitment to excellence,” the travel bookings platform said in an email to HT.com.
“We adhere to stringent corporate governance standards, fully complying with all applicable Indian laws and data privacy frameworks. We don’t comment on malicious or motivated accusations and remain focused on offering our best services to our customers as a responsible Indian corporate,” it continued.
