China's Internet and Rail Regulators Jointly Summon Seven Major Ticket Platforms Over Automated Scraping

China's Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and the National Railway Administration have jointly summoned seven major third-party railway ticket sales platforms, demanding they cease using automated programs for high-frequency ticket scraping that disrupts the official 12306 booking platform.

The Seven Platforms

• Ctrip (携程)
• Tongcheng (同程)
• Qunar (去哪儿)
• Fliggy (飞猪)
• Meituan (美团)
• Zhixing Train Ticket (智行火车票)
• Gaotie Guanjia (高铁管家)

Key Requirements

1. Strict compliance with cybersecurity laws and regulations
2. No use of automated programs for large-scale, high-frequency ticket grabbing
3. Must not interfere with 12306 platform's security verification measures
4. Must not disrupt the safe and stable operation of the 12306 platform

Enforcement

Follow-up actions will include:

• Enhanced technical monitoring
• Enforcement under the Cybersecurity Law and Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Regulations
• Serious penalties for violations

Significance

This action highlights several important trends:

• API scraping crackdown: Chinese regulators are taking an increasingly firm stance against automated scraping of critical infrastructure
• Platform responsibility: Third-party platforms are being held accountable for their technical interactions with government systems
• Consumer protection focus: The move aims to ensure fair ticket access for regular passengers
• Precedent setting: Similar enforcement could extend to other sectors where third-party platforms interact with critical government or financial systems

The action comes amid growing concerns about "scalper bots" using automated tools to hoard train tickets during peak travel periods, particularly around Chinese New Year.