Russian Competition Watchdog Forces Booking.com To Exclude Parity Clause From Contracts

Russian Competition Watchdog Forces Booking.com to Exclude Parity Clause From Contracts

Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to online travel accommodation aggregator Booking.com, asking it to exclude price parity clauses from its contracts with Russian hotels

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2019) Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to online travel accommodation aggregator Booking.com, asking it to exclude price parity clauses from its contracts with Russian hotels.

A so-called wide parity clause generally prevents a hotel from offering a better price to other travel agents. A narrow parity clause would allow them to offer better conditions but they would not be able to advertise it at their own website.

"The warning contains a demand to exclude parity clause on prices and rooms vis-a-vis third parties from its agreements with Russian entities providing accommodations services within a month," the watchdog said in a press release.

In June, a court in Germany overturned a 2015 decision of the country's anti-cartel agency that forbade Booking.com from using the narrow parity clause. In May, the company won a similar legal battle in Sweden, where a court overturned an earlier decision to ban narrow parity clauses.