Hotels who filed a lawsuit against Booking are located in 25 European countries. The reason for initiating this procedure is the forced obligation to comply with the so-called best price clause.
These clauses prohibit access to rooms at lower rates, everywhere except on Booking.com platforms, including their websites, reports FoNet.
Prosecutors argue that this practice is against the regulations Of the European Union.
The collective lawsuit was initiated by the European association of the hotel industry Hotrek, "NL Times" writes.
"European hoteliers have been suffering for years due to unfair conditions and exorbitant costs. Now is the moment to fight together for compensation," said the president of that organization, Alexandros Vasilikos.
Court proceedings against Booking
The lawsuit is based on the judgment of the European Court of Justice of September 19, 2024, when it was determined that such clauses are neither necessary nor proportional. N1 reports that they limit competition, especially in the case of smaller providers of accommodation services.
Namely, hoteliers claim that in the period from 2004 to 2024, they suffered significant losses due to restrictions on price competition, as well as due to the high commissions they had to pay to Booking.
Commissions averaged around 12 percent per booking, and in some cases even more.
The Booking company said that they are not familiar with the details of the lawsuit, stressing that the judgment of the European Court of Justice, which the hoteliers refer to, refers exclusively to cases from Germany, in the period from 2006 to 2016, considering it irrelevant to the wider European context.
The headquarters of the Booking company is located in Amsterdam, and this case will be considered by the Dutch court.
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