The Dutch consumers’ association is initiating legal proceedings against Booking.com. They accuse the travel website of artificially inflating hotel prices because they have violated competition rules for years. With the Consumer Competition Claims (CCC) foundation, the Consumentenbond is demanding compensation for consumers.
Foreign News
Dutch consumer association brings legal action against Booking.com over competition violation
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“Consumers have been paying too much for their hotel rooms for years,” says CCC president Bert Heikens. “We have conducted research which shows that Booking has been violating competition rules and consumer law since January 2013. Through illegal agreements and practices, Booking.com prevents hotels from offering lower prices and better conditions.”
Sandra Molenaar, CEO of the Consumentenbond, calls the company’s behaviour “misleading”. “For example, the platform uses fake discounts, incomplete prices and fabricated scarcity,” she says. “With these kinds of ‘dark patterns’, Booking.com influences the choices consumers make. And that is not allowed under Dutch and European rules.”
According to the Consumentenbond and CCC, consumers have already lost tens, sometimes hundreds, of euros. This amounts to hundreds of millions of euros in damages.
“Various European regulators have also already determined that Booking.com is acting unlawfully," Heikens says. Last year, the European Commission already determined that Booking.com is a digital “gatekeeper” and must follow stricter rules.
Booking.com influences the choices consumers make. And that is not allowed under Dutch and European rules
The first step in the process is to gather victims. The organisations claim that every Dutch consumer who has booked a hotel room through Booking.com at least once since 2023 has suffered damage.
CCC is responsible for the legal action itself. The Consumentenbond is gathering and registering consumers who wish to participate in the claim.
According to the association, other people may also have been affected, as travel websites such as Expedia may have increased their prices as a result of Booking's actions.
