Successfully represented Agoda and won judgment from the Seoul High Court to cancel an administrative order by the Korea Fair Trade Commission
2021.02.04.
Yulchon LLC
represented Agoda Company Private Limited (“Agoda”), a global online travel
agency (“OTA”), in a lawsuit filed with the Seoul High Court against the Korea
Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”). Yulchon was able to obtain judgment in favor of
Agoda and the Seoul High Court cancelled the KFTC’s corrective order in its
entirety.
The KFTC issued
a corrective order compelling Agoda to remove non-refundable rooms from Agoda’s
online reservation platform. Agoda, however, filed an administrative suit
against the KFTC claiming that the KFTC’s corrective order was improper, and
Yulchon, representing Agoda, won judgment in favor of Agoda.
During the
litigation, in addition to legal and economic arguments, Yulchon presented the
court with empirical data to demonstrate that removing non-refundable rooms as
a booking option would be detrimental to not only Korean and foreign travelers,
but also to Korean and international hotels/accommodations. The Seoul High
Court accepted these points, and ruled that the no-refund condition was neither
unfair to consumers nor an unfair standard term or condition.
The Agoda
case is meaningful in that, unlike many other OTAs that opted to acquiesce to
the KFTC’s order, through a multifaceted presentation of legal, economic and
empirical data-based arguments, particularly regarding characteristics specific
to OTAs and online platform operators as well as arguments regarding the effect
on consumer welfare, Yulchon was able to obtain full judgment in favor of
Agoda.
