The Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance (SHCA), backed by the hotel industry body HOTREC, is suing Booking Holdings and its European subsidiaries in the District Court of Amsterdam. It alleges that Booking.com’s price parity clauses inflated the commissions hotels paid from 2004 to 2024 and estimates damages at several billion euros. On October 30, 2026, it filed its third and final group of claims, bringing the total to 18,135 hotels.
Latest development Oct 30, 2026
On October 30, 2026, the Stichting Hotel Claims Alliance (SHCA) said it had filed its third and final group of claimants with the District Court of Amsterdam. The number of participating hotels now stands at 18,135. SHCA estimates the damages at several billion euros plus interest and expects a first hearing in 2027.
Why it matters
The case puts a price on parity clauses that Booking.com used across Europe for two decades. It will show whether hotels can recover allegedly inflated commissions in a single Dutch proceeding, and how Dutch courts weigh German findings against the clauses.
Background
Booking.com introduced price parity clauses in its terms for hotels in 2004. The wide clauses barred hotels from offering lower rates or better conditions on any other sales channel. From July 2015, Booking.com applied narrower clauses that covered only the hotels’ own direct channels. The German Federal Cartel Office prohibited the narrow clauses in December 2015, and Germany’s Federal Court of Justice upheld that decision in May 2021. Booking.com removed all parity clauses from its terms by December 2, 2024, to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act.
On September 19, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in a separate case between Booking.com and German hotels. It held that the clauses cannot be treated as ancillary restraints that fall outside EU competition law. With the support of HOTREC and more than 30 national hotel associations, SHCA was set up as a Dutch foundation to bundle hotels’ claims. Participating hotels assign their claims to the foundation, which sues in its own name with money from a litigation funder. Because Booking.com B.V. has its seat in the Netherlands, the claims can be brought there.
SHCA sued Booking Holdings and several European subsidiaries in the District Court of Amsterdam on January 30, 2026, for an initial 3,087 hotels. It seeks damages for 2004 to 2024 and puts them at 30% or more of the commissions the participating hotels paid, which it estimates at several billion euros. On May 1, 2026, the court allowed SHCA to secure evidence, including invoices from before 2018. A bailiff began carrying out the measure at Booking.com’s Amsterdam headquarters on May 4. Booking.com has said that parity clauses were standard practice in the accommodation sector for many years.
SHCA added 7,696 hotels on July 30, 2026, and filed its third and final group on October 30, 2026, bringing the total to 18,135 hotels from more than 30 countries. SHCA says it expects a first hearing in 2027. The same court is also hearing a case between Booking.com and German hotels and a consumer collective action over the same clauses.
Timeline 6 events
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FilingSHCA files its third and final group of hotel claims
The filing brought the total to 18,135 hotels from more than 30 countries. SHCA said it expects a first hearing in 2027.
SHCA: Over 18,000 European hotels to pursue landmark collective action against Booking Holdings
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FilingSHCA files claims for 7,696 more hotels
The expansion brought the number of participating hotels to 10,783.
Hotel Online (HOTREC): Over 10,000 European hotels now part of collective action against Booking.comTravel Gossip: Booking.com faces compensation claim from more than 10,000 hotels
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OrderAmsterdam court lets SHCA secure Booking.com invoices as evidence
The measure covers invoices Booking.com issued to hotels before 2018. A bailiff began carrying it out at Booking.com’s Amsterdam headquarters on May 4, 2026.
Tornos News: The “missing invoices”, the bailiff and the lawsuit of 15,000 European hotels
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FilingSHCA sues Booking Holdings in Amsterdam on behalf of 3,087 hotels
The foundation seeks damages linked to price parity clauses between 2004 and 2024, with the support of HOTREC and more than 30 national hotel associations.
Hotel Online (HOTREC): Over 10,000 European hotels now part of collective action against Booking.comSHCA: About SHCA
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OtherBooking.com removes all parity clauses from its hotel terms
Booking.com dropped the remaining narrow parity clauses to comply with the EU Digital Markets Act.
WKO: Collective damage action by European hotels against Booking.com
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OtherEU Court of Justice rules on Booking.com parity clauses in a related case
In Case C-264/23, brought by the District Court of Amsterdam in a dispute with German hotels, the court held that the clauses are not ancillary restraints outside EU competition law.
Hotelverband Deutschland (IHA): press release of March 4, 2026