The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Booking.com to examine how the platform handles the risks of scams and fraud, a case brought under the Digital Services Act. The investigation will look at the measures the Dutch online travel agency has in place against those risks and whether they meet the obligations the DSA sets for large platforms.

Booking.com sits at the centre of the market the Commission is now scrutinising. In Europe, 66% of online hotel reservations go through the platform. Over the same stretch, the company has reported a 500% increase in scams between 2022 and 2024.

The Commission opened the proceedings on 21st October to assess whether Booking.com may have breached the DSA. The Act requires major online platforms to identify and address risks tied to illegal and harmful content and to show that the systems they use to do so are adequate.

The sheer size of the service puts it squarely within those rules. Booking.com estimates that the average monthly recipients of its service in the European Union, from 1st January 2026 up to and including 30th June 2026, is well above 45 million. That number comfortably clears the threshold at which the strictest DSA duties apply.

European regulators have examined the platform before. Booking Holdings, the parent company, was designated as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act for its online intermediary service on 13th May 2024. As of 14th November 2024, Booking was required to ensure that Booking.com complies with all relevant obligations under that separate regime.

The Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act are two strands of the same push to tighten rules across the digital sector, with the DSA aimed at making online experiences safer and more transparent for consumers. Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam.