Prague Airport’s lawsuit against the advertising firm JCDecaux over advertising space will reach a verdict next week. The airport is demanding that the company, which rents the space from it, provide information on its total revenues because it suspects that it is not receiving the proper amount under the contract. The company, however, denies any suspicions. The Municipal Court in Prague heard the case again today after the Supreme Court returned it to it following an appeal by JCDecaux. According to Hospodářské noviny, the airport is also suing the company over a CZK 43 million debt.
JCDecaux has leased advertising space at the airport since 2012. The dispute revolves around the airport’s demand that the company provide it with information on its revenues, which it would then subject to a detailed audit to determine whether the company is actually paying the contractually agreed amount for the leased advertising space. This is based on sales and the minimum amount, according to statements made in court today, is about CZK 62.3 million. According to the company, the suspicion is unfounded and the contract does not include an obligation to provide such extensive data.
JCDecaux lawyer Ladislav Peterka said in court today that the total revenue data represents sensitive know-how that the company must protect and the original contract does not entitle the airport to provide it. The company is therefore seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. However, the airport’s lawyer Pavel Dejl reiterated in court today that his client is demanding documents on the company’s total sales. According to him, information only on the airport’s areas will not allow to verify whether there were any transfers of money within the company. “We don’t understand at all that if there was no transfer, why can’t it be verified,” he said, adding that the firm’s reluctance to provide the data raises questions.
The District Court for Prague 8 partially granted the airport’s request in 2021, ordering JCDecaux to hand over the requested data, but not on the firm’s complete revenues, only on advertising space located at the airport. On appeal, the Municipal Court in Prague changed the judgment to the effect that the documents should not be received directly by the airport, but by an independent auditor who will assess them. JCDecaux then appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned the judgment and remanded it to the Municipal Court in Prague on the grounds that the court’s interpretation of the contract containing the wording on the provision of information between the parties was insufficient.
According to the findings of Hospodářské noviny, the two parties are also engaged in another dispute in which the airport is demanding CZK 43 million from JCDecaux for the rent of advertising space in 2020. According to the newspaper, the company has defended its failure to pay the full rent by citing the period of the covid-19 pandemic and the suspension of air traffic, which drastically reduced the revenue from advertising space.
France’s JCDecaux has lost two major contracts in Prague in recent years. First, in 2016, the Prague Transport Company (DPP) terminated the contract for the lease of advertising space in the metro to Rencar, a JCDecaux company. The company subsequently challenged the move in court, but the dispute has not yet ended. In mid-2021, the company’s contract for urban furniture with the Prague City Council expired and the latter did not renew it and decided to replace the bus shelters that JCDecaux had been operating with its own.
Source: Prague Airport and ISBnews
