The Commercial Tribunal of Paris has ruled against the company in the year-old case.
Rate parity refers to the contract clauses that stop operators from offering rates on their brand.com websites if those are lower than what they give online travel agencies.
In a key passage, regulators wrote, according to a rough translation:
“due to lack of adequate consideration, clauses aimed at automatic obtainment of the best promotional, and tariff conditions in contracts of the incriminated hotels located on French territory, constitute a significant imbalance within the meaning of article L442-6 1 2nd and are null and void.”