Airbnb Ireland UC

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Airbnb Ireland UC (Airbnb Ireland) in relation to Airbnb Ireland’s admitted contraventions of ss 18(1) and 29(1)(i) of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), being Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).

Following Federal Court proceedings issued by the ACCC, Airbnb Ireland has admitted that between 1 January 2018 and 30 August 2021, it made false or misleading representations by displaying on its platform to some users in Australia, the total price for accommodation in Australia with a dollar sign without any, or any nearby indication of whether the amount was in Australian Dollars (AUD) or United States Dollars (USD) prior to the booking page.

Approximately 63,000 Australian consumers made approximately 77,000 bookings in USD for accommodation in Australia during the relevant period and by reason of the prevailing USD/AUD currency exchange rate during the period may have paid more than they expected to. Some affected users also paid charges to their financial institution which would not have been levied had they been charged in AUD.

Airbnb Ireland has also admitted that it represented to some consumers who raised concerns about having been charged in USD instead of AUD that Airbnb had used amounts in USD for the consumer’s booking because the consumer had selected for the Airbnb platform to do so, when in fact some consumers had made no such selection.

The ACCC and Airbnb Ireland have agreed to resolve the proceedings by way of consent orders against Airbnb Ireland, and the court has made orders including declarations, a pecuniary penalty of $15 million, payment of a contribution to the ACCC’s legal costs, and a compliance program. In addition, Airbnb Ireland has agreed to offer the ACCC a section 87B undertaking that it will:

• within 30 days, establish an online portal accessible at Airbnb.com.au/e/currencyclaims to handle compensation claims
• within 45 days, contact each affected user, notify them that they may be eligible for compensation, and send them details of how to lodge a compensation claim via the online portal
• pay compensation to eligible users within 60 days of the user completing a valid claim via the online portal
• appoint an independent auditor to oversee the program
• provide reports to the ACCC about the status of the compensation program, including the total amount refunded and the number of consumers who have accessed the portal.

The compensation Airbnb will pay to eligible consumers who submit a claim will be the difference between the amount the consumer paid for their booking(s) in AUD and the dollar value of the booking shown on the screen at the time of the booking in USD due to the USD/AUD exchange rate, and any transaction fees incurred.

Variation

On 5 February 2024 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accepted a variation to the section 87B Undertaking.

The purpose of the variation is to update details of the web forms which are specified in the Undertaking and to amend the time for compliance with paragraphs 6.5 and 6.7 of the Undertaking so that if an obligation for Airbnb Ireland to send a reminder notice to a consumer falls on a day which is not a business day, Airbnb Ireland may send the reminder notice on the prior business day.