( March 15, 2021, 03:00 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: Five accommodation platforms operating in South Korea including Booking.com, Expedia and Hotels.com, have either deleted or revised broad parity clauses concerning hotel room prices in their contracts with local hotels, the Korea Fair Trade Commission said in a statement today. In a move to address the regulator's concerns the parity clauses, otherwise known as most-favored nation clauses, may restrain competition and create entry barriers, the platform giants voluntarily moved away from broad parity clauses — that is imposing restrictions on hotels and other lodging operators from offering a better deal anywhere else. Instead, Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia and Hotels.com replaced broad clauses with narrow parity clauses, which forbid hotels from offering lower prices on their own websites. Interpark removed all parity clauses from its contracts.The KFTC statement, in Korean, is attached. ...
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