숙박예약 플랫폼 환불불가 조항과 약관규제법상 불공정 약관 여부에 대한 법적 고찰 - 대법원 2023. 9. 21. 선고 2020두41399 판결을 중심으로 -

As the number of people booking accommodation for travel destinations through platform companies based on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has increased significantly, terms and conditions that are unfavorable to consumers, including non-refundable, are controversial. Accommodation reservation platforms such as Booking.com and Agoda offer low-cost accommodation reservation. However, if a reservation is canceled on these platforms, there is often a non-refundable clause that does not refund the accommodation fee at all. These non-refundable provisions can be regarded as unfair terms and conditions that unfairly bear the obligation to compensate customers for damages. However, according to the recently sentenced Supreme Court decision on September 21, 2023, 2020Du41399, it was concluded that it was not illegal for accommodation platforms such as Booking.com and Agoda to apply non-refundable provisions. The issue of this case can be summarized in two main ways. First, when a contract is signed through an accommodation platform that acts as an intermediary for the accommodation contract, customers often trust the accommodation platform and consider the accommodation platform as a party to the contract. However, in this case, it is necessary to examine who is the party to the contract. Moreover, if the accommodation platform operator goes beyond its role as an intermediary and forms an “order” or “norm” within the platform as the founder of the market, It is also a question of whether an accommodation platform operator can be viewed as a business that has proposed terms and conditions under act on the regulation of terms and conditions. Second, in addition to the judgment of whether the accommodation platform business operator is a business operator under act on the regulation of terms and conditions, whether or not the non-refundable clause is unfair is also an issue. The plaintiff platform company’s non-refundable clause is that the scope of the business operator’s right to claim damages due to the cancellation of the customer’s accommodation reservation will be uniformly recognized for all accommodation fees. However, it is necessary to examine whether it is unfair to completely exclude the calculation of the estimated amount of damages. Therefore, this paper examined whether the plaintiff platform company, the main issue in this case, is a business operator under act on the regulation of terms and conditions and whether the non-refundable clause is an unfair clause under act on the regulation of terms and conditions, and then expressed its opinion on the validity of the target judgment.