Irish hotels to join landmark Europe-wide legal action against booking.com
An umbrella organisation representing hundreds of Irish hotels is joining the industry across Europe in an 'unprecedented' legal action against one of the world's largest accommodation platforms over what they say were inflated rate of commission imposed for two decades.
The hotels are seeking 'substantial financial compensation' from
booking.com
following a judgment from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last September which found that the platform's so-called parity clauses breached EU competition law.
The contested clauses in the contracts that hotels had to sign if they wanted to feature on the site effectively prevented them from offering lower prices or better availability through other channels, the legal action will say.
And it will argue that the strict conditions placed on hotels and their customers put them at a competitive disadvantage by suppressing price competition between Booking.com and other online platforms.
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The hotels will also argue that it resulted in them being charged inflated levels of commissions with the clauses also restricting them from offering better prices or availability on their own websites, limiting direct sales and autonomy.
Under the general principles of European competition law, hotels in Ireland and across Europe are now entitled to claim compensation from Booking.com for the financial losses suffered.
The collective legal action is being supported by the European hospitality association and over 25 national hotel associations across Europe including the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).
It is being brought before the Amsterdam District Court in the Netherlands, where Booking.com BV is headquartered. More than 900 Irish hotels and guesthouses are eligible to join the action that covers a period from 2004 to 2024.
Affected hotels may be eligible to recover a significant portion of commissions paid to Booking.com in any period from 2004 to 2024 plus interest, the IHF has said.
The umbrella group's chief executive Paul Gallagher described it as 'an unprecedented legal action' and said the booking.com parity clauses had been 'a major issue for Irish hotels going back 20 years, resulting in significant financial harm due to the inflated levels of commissions charged. We see this as an important opportunity to send a strong message to online booking platforms that unfair business practices will not go unchallenged.'
The IHF said it was in direct communication with all affected hotels and guesthouses in Ireland in relation to the next steps for joining the collective legal action against Booking.com.
It said the case was being led by a 'team of highly experienced and recognised competition lawyers, litigators and competition economists, who have already successfully achieved the ECJ's judgment of 19 September 2024.
In addition to the Irish Hotels Federation, the action is supported by national hotel associations from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.
The Irish Times has contacted booking.com seeking a response.
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