Germany: Berlin Regional Court II ruled Booking is liable to compensate 1'099 accommodation providers for use of narrow best price clauses in contracts

On 16 December 2025, the Berlin Regional Court II ruled that Booking is required to compensate 1’099 accommodation providers for the use of narrow best price clauses in its contracts since 1 January 2013, in proceedings involving 1’288 plaintiffs against Booking. The plaintiffs, comprising hotels and similar businesses that used Booking’s platform, argued that the company’s use of best price clauses caused them financial harm. Booking applied wide best price clauses from the mid-2000s until 30 June 2015, which prohibited accommodation providers from offering the same or better prices on their own websites or on any other third-party platforms. Narrow best price clauses restricted providers from offering the same or better prices on their own websites only. On 22 December 2015, the German Federal Cartel Office declared narrow best price clauses to be anti-competitive. The court’s ruling did not revisit whether the narrow or wide clauses were anti-competitive, but focused instead on whether Booking was liable for the resulting damages, concluding that it was. The precise amount of compensation for each hotel will be determined in separate follow-on proceedings. The judgment is not yet final and may be appealed. The court also rejected the plaintiffs’ related claim for a blanket refund of all commissions paid.