Four owners of online accommodation booking platforms (OTA): Hotel Reservation Service, Expedia Lodging Partner, Booking.com and eTravel voluntarily abandoned the use of MFN clauses, which limited competition in the hotel online booking sector. In consequence, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) was able to conclude preliminary investigation without launching antitrust proceedings.

In December 2014 UOKiK instituted preliminary proceedings to examine the functioning of accommodation online booking system, among others for hotels, hostels, and private apartments. UOKiK’s concerns related in particular to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clauses which frequently appeared in contracts drafted by the owners of online accommodation booking platforms (OTA). Such clauses guarantee that the price, room availability and other conditions offered by the OTA will be not lower or will be equal to the price offered by competing portals or accommodation.

UOKiK has been cooperating on the issue of MFN clauses with other EU national competition authorities, as well as the European Commission, in the framework of the European Competition Network. UOKiK’s proceedings correspond in this respect to actions undertaken by competition agencies from other countries. For example, the French, Italian and Swedish National Competition Authorities issued commitment decisions concerning Booking.com, which provided for the removal of MFN clauses from contracts with hotels.

Within the course of the proceedings UOKiK established that the following four OTAs operating in Poland used the challenged MFN clauses: Hotel Reservation Service (hrs.pl), Expedia Lodging Partner (expedia.com), Booking.com (booking.com) and eTravel – the only Poland-based platform (hotele.pl). In June 2015 UOKiK has called on those businesses to voluntarily cease the use of MFN clauses, which would allow for the swift elimination of irregularities without the need to launch antitrust proceedings.

All four enterprises voluntarily abandoned the use of clauses indicated by UOKiK as anti-competitive. UOKiK received information that three owners of online booking platforms have already ceased the use of MFN clauses, while the fourth announced that it will have introduced all the necessary changes in its contracts with hotels by 30 November 2015.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
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