HOTREC – the umbrella organization representing European hotel and hospitality associations – has extended the registration deadline for the joint lawsuit against Booking.com until 29 August. The initiative aims to allow hotels to reclaim a significant portion of the commissions paid to the platform between 2004 and 2024, according to Turizmus.com.
The legal basis of the claim is the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) dated 19 September 2024 (C-264/23), which ruled that the rate parity clauses applied by Booking.com infringe EU competition law. These contractual clauses prevented hotels from offering better rates on their own websites, distorted market competition, hindered direct bookings, and forced service providers to pay unjustifiably high commissions.
The hotels involved in the lawsuit are represented by the Hotel Claims Alliance Foundation, supported by a team of international legal and economic experts. Participation is completely free of charge and risk-free. Registration is available online at www.mybookingclaim.com.
To date, more than 10,000 hotels from 25 countries have joined the initiative – including Hungary, where participation is coordinated by the Hungarian Hotel & Restaurant Association. The association is confident that hotels will receive significant financial compensation as a result of the claim.
