The main trade group for French hotels has sued the home-sharing giant Airbnb, accusing it of unfair competition by 'knowingly violating' rules imposed as part of a crackdown in one of the US giant's biggest markets.

In the lawsuit seen by AFP on Tuesday, the UMIH hotel industry body accuses Airbnb of keeping listings online even when they lack the required registration numbers, a rule recently introduced in Paris and other French cities to crack down on people who rent out their property as a full-time business.

Airbnb knows that some owners rent their rooms or apartments for more than the 120-day yearly limit, or that renters are illegally using the site, the lawsuit also claims.

Read the news here.