The Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EC was transposed into Irish Law in December 2013, by virtue of the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations, 2013 (the “Regulations”). The purpose of the Regulations is to consolidate the current consumer legislation and enhance consumer protection and ensure similar rules exist throughout Europe thus increasing consumer confidence and facilitating cross –border shopping.
The Regulations will apply to contracts concluded on or after the 13th June, 2014 which are
- off premises contracts (those concluded away from the trader’s premises which might include a consumer’s home or workplace)
- Distance contracts, which might be those contracts concluded online, by telephone or by post and
- on premises contracts.
The regulations set out the information which a trader must provide to a consumer before they will be bound by a contract. This may include the price, guarantees, the trader’s complaints policy, any additional charges and the cost and duration of delivery. Consumers will also be provided with a model withdrawal form with which they can cancel the contract if they wish.
The regulations provide for the elimination of hidden charges and costs on the internet and provide for a cooling off period which is the period during which a consumer can decide to withdraw from any obligations under the relevant contract. This has been extended from 7 to 14 days. The regulations also provide for the elimination of excessive surcharges for the use of credit cards.
There are certain contracts which are excluded from the remit of the regulations and these include certain contracts such as contracts for gambling, healthcare, package holidays/travel, and contracts for social services.
There are serious repercussions for traders found guilty of engaging in prohibited practices under the regulations. They may be found guilty of a criminal offence and also liable to pay a fine of between €4,000 and €5,000 and/or 12 months imprisonment on summary conviction and €60,000 and/ or 18 months imprisonment on indictment.
The regulations create additional protections for consumers and are of particular significance relevance that people are increasingly more likely to make purchases online. They impose several additional obligations on traders who must ensure that their contracts are in compliance with the regulations from the 13th June, 2014 onward.
If you are a trader and would like us to review your contract to ensure that it complies with the EU Directive as transposed or if you are a consumer and would like advise on your rights as a consumer, please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be happy to advise.
Katie Nugent
For many years consumers have complained about the excessive cost of calling 1850, 1890 and 0818 telephone numbers. These are generally non-inclusive in call bundles and expensive to call from mobile phones. Irish consumers recently had a chance to stop businesses using these expensive numbers for their customer service helplines when the EU Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) was recently transposed into Irish law as the EUROPEAN UNION (CONSUMER INFORMATION, CANCELLATION AND OTHER RIGHTS) REGULATIONS 2013 (aka 2013/si484).
ReplyDeleteThe EU Directive requires post-sale customer helplines to be charged at no more than “basic rate”. This definition obviously includes ordinary geographic numbers and freephone numbers. The definition also allows mobile phone numbers in as much as they are often free to call from other mobiles and are the primary contact point for many small and independent traders.
However, this was Ireland’s big opportunity to have the various non-geographic "shared cost", "national rate" [sic], "local rate" [sic], and "lo-call" [sic] numbers excluded from the "basic rate" definition. While that wouldn’t have prevented these numbers being used for sales lines, it would have been the beginning of the end for this quite blatant rip off. However, and quite bizzarely, the Irish national legislation defines these expensive numbers as being "basic rate".
This appears to go against the basic principles of the EU Directive. Consumers will continue to be ripped off, but now with the apparent full backing of a "consumer protection" law that says it’s OK to do so. What went wrong at the consultation stage in May 2013? How did this nonsense ever get through and into the published legislation? Were ComReg consulted on this? What was their advice?
It is worthy of note that the UK legislation defines "basic rate" as geographic (01, 02 and 03), mobile (07) and freephone (080). The "basic rate" definition excludes various non-geographic numbers with a Service Service Charge (084 and 087). Some of these numbers were previously known as "national rate" (0870) and "local rate" (0845). The UK definition also excludes all Premium Rate numbers (090, 091 and 098).