Booking.com targeted as hotels plan Dutch damages claims over price clauses

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - (This story has been corrected to say that the hotel associations backed damages claims but are not themselves claimants in paragraph 1; and to clarify that HOTREC backs hotels' claims, not hotel associations, in paragraph 5) Booking.com could face Dutch damages claims running into millions of euros after 26 hotel associations across Europe said they would back their members in such litigation following an EU court judgment last year over its price curbs on hotels.

Europe's top court ruled that Booking.com's restrictions against hotels offering lower rates on their websites or on rival sites are unnecessary and could reduce competition, but also that such clauses are not anti-competitive under EU laws.

Such parity clauses, which are included in contracts between online booking sites and hotels, have triggered complaints from competitors and scrutiny from regulators across Europe concerned about fewer choices for consumers.

The case came before the European Court of Justice after Booking.com applied for a declaration in a Dutch court on whether parity clauses are valid, prompting the latter to seek guidance from the top court.

HOTREC, which represents 47 member associations in the hospitality sector in 36 European countries, said it was backing the hotels' damages claims.

"European hoteliers have long endured unfair conditions and inflated costs. Now is the time to stand together and seek redress," HOTREC president Alexandros Vassilikos said in a statement.

Booking.com said it had not been informed of any European-wide legal action taken by the hotels and that their conclusions about the court ruling are incorrect.

"The ECJ judgement relates specifically to questions asked by the Amsterdam District Court in relation to litigation between Booking.com and some German hotels disputing the legality of price parity clauses in Germany between 2006 and 2016," a Booking.com spokesperson said.

"The court did not conclude that Booking.com's German parity price clauses were anti-competitive or had an effect on competition. The Amsterdam Court will now need to make a decision specifically on German parity clauses only."

Hotels have until July 31 to sign up to the damages litigation.

The hotel associations endorsing the action are in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by MarkPotter)