HOTREC joins industry coalition warning against unbalanced refund rules in EU Payments Regulation
HOTREC has joined a broad cross-industry coalition representing hospitality, travel, media, e-commerce, fintech and payment services to express concern about a proposed unconditional refund right for merchant-initiated transactions (MITs) in the EU Payment Services Regulation (PSR).
While consumers already benefit from robust refund protections under PSD2, extending unconditional refunds to all MITs would remove the ability for businesses to contest disputes. This would expose sectors such as hospitality, subscription services and digital content providers to increased fraud, operational costs and misuse of refund mechanisms.
For hospitality businesses, this proposal could severely impact pre-payments, no-show charges, post-stay incidentals, and deposit-based guarantees, undermining revenue predictability and cost recovery.
The coalition urges EU co-legislators to uphold the European Parliament’s position to exclude MITs from Article 62(1) and maintain proportional safeguards that protect both consumers and businesses.
HOTREC will continue to support balanced and sustainable payment rules that preserve trust, prevent fraud and protect hospitality SMEs across Europe.
