Photo/Illutration Kumiko Matsuno, left, president of a hotel company, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20. (Kazufumi Kaneko)

The owners of 11 hotel companies across Japan filed a lawsuit against Booking.com, one of the world’s largest online travel reservation sites, over 36.7 million yen ($245,000) in unpaid fees since the summer.

The lawsuit was submitted Oct. 20 at the Tokyo District Court.

An official with Booking.com cited technical problems stemming from a change in its computer system for the delay in making the payments since around July.

Some of the companies had to sell real estate and take other measures to pay for expenses in the absence of receiving payments from Booking.com.

The 11 plaintiffs operate hotels in eight prefectures, including Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa.

The individual amounts sought range from between 100,000 yen or so to around 16 million yen.

The hoteliers had signed contracts with Booking.com to receive the fees that site users paid to reserve rooms. The plaintiffs accused Booking.com of deliberately violating the law and said not making the payments constituted embezzlement.

At a news conference on Oct. 20 some of the plaintiffs explained the difficulties they have faced since the suspension of payments from Booking.com.

“This problem occurred just as demand from foreign tourists was recovering with the end of the novel coronavirus pandemic,” said Masahiko Matsuo, 46, president of a company operating hotels in Gifu and Nara prefectures.

He called on the company to transfer the overdue payments as soon as possible.

Matsuo said his company is owed about 5.1 million yen, adding that it sold off real estate to cover some of its expenses.

Another company operating 12 facilities in Tokyo said payments from Booking.com for one facility dropped off from around June. A total of 4 million yen was still owed.

Company president Kumiko Matsuno explained that her company depended on Booking.com because 70 to 80 percent of the company’s overseas guests use the site to make reservations.

“Our standing in relation (to Booking.com) is weak because foreign guests have no option but to depend on it,” Matsuno said.

Hirotaro Kato, a lawyer working for the hotel companies, said some companies had to let go of staff because they could not pay their salaries.

He called on the defendant to respond swiftly “after recognizing the severity of the situation.”

An official with the Japanese arm of Booking.com refrained from comment on grounds the company had not read the lawsuit.

The official acknowledged that some hotel companies had not been paid because of the computer problem but said most payments had resumed. The company offered its apologies to those companies that have been troubled.

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