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German authority prohibits best-price clauses at Booking.com

Xinhua, December 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The German Federal Cartel Office prohibited on Wednesday the German arm of Booking.com from continuing to use best-price clauses in its contracts with hotel operators in the country.

This means the leading online booking portal will no longer be allowed to prevent hotel operators in Germany from offering rooms at cheaper rates on other, rival platforms.

The German Federal Cartel Office said in a statement that the best-price clauses contradicted the spirit of fair competition among booking portals and hotel operators, thereby affecting the interests of consumers.

The authority has ordered Booking.com to completely delete the clauses from its contracts as well as general terms and conditions by January 31.

Should the hotel booking portal choose to ignore the cartel office's decision, it could be in for a stiff fine - in the range of hundreds of millions of euros.

The German Federal Cartel Office has already declared the best-price clauses at Booking.com's rival HRS null and void, with a probe into Expedia still ongoing. Endit