With effect from Thursday 14 November, the online booking site Booking.com is definitively subject to the rules of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The site, designated as a ‘gatekeeper’ last May (see EUROPE 13408/13), must now review its operating procedures.
For example, the clauses known as ‘parity’ clauses are prohibited by the DMA. As a result, hotels, car rental companies and other service providers using Booking are now free to offer different prices and conditions on their own websites or through channels other than Booking.
For its part, Booking cannot put in place a system equivalent to the parity clauses to compensate for their prohibition. It is not authorised to increase its commission rates or to delist offers from professional users if they offer different prices on another website.
The Commission must always analyse the compliance report provided by the platform and assess whether the measures implemented are “effective under the DMA”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)