Who do the Regulations
apply to?
The Regulations may apply to you if your business
does the following:
What information must be
given?
Businesses who advertise or sell goods or
services online must provide the customer with the following information:
Other information that
must be given if it applies:
-
Membership of trade
associations.
-
If you have been authorised to
advertise or sell goods or services, details of the
supervisory authority, e.g. financial services.
-
If your business is part of a
profession whose qualifications are recognised across Europe,
details of the body or institution with which you are
registered, details of professional titles, the member state
in which such titles were granted and a reference to the rules
and how customers can access them.
-
If online sales are subject to
VAT, details of the VAT number.- If prices are referred to
they must be clearly indicated together with delivery costs.
|
What about commercial communications such as
emails?
If you actively promote goods or services by
commercial communications such as an email the communication must:
Other information that
must be given if it applies:
-
Discounts, special offers,
promotional competitions and games etc must be identified as
such
-
Qualifying terms and
conditions must be easily accessible and presented clearly and
unambiguously
-
Unsolicited communications
must be clearly identifiable as such as soon as they are
received by the customer
|
What about online
contracts?
If customers can place an order online the
following information must be given in a clear, comprehensive and
unambiguous manner before the order is placed:
-
Technical steps to follow in order to
conclude the contract including the point at which customers will
commit themselves to the contract
-
Whether the contract will be filed by
the business and whether it will be accessible to the customer
-
Technical steps to follow to amend any
inputting errors prior to placing an order
Other information that in
general must be given if it applies:
NB
Most of the above requirements do not apply to online transactions between
two businesses if both parties agree to opt out of them.
What are the consequences
of not complying with the Regulations?
The Regulations are intended to break down
marketing barriers across the UK and Europe and to boost consumer
confidence in e-commerce and therefore compliance could increase your
market opportunities.
Non compliance with the Regulations however
could have serious consequences in that customers may be able to:
-
Cancel their order at any stage
without being in breach of contract.
-
Seek a court order against you
-
Sue for damages if they have suffered
a loss
