New Deal for Consumer proposed by European Commission to strength consumer rights online

The European Commission is proposing a New Deal for Consumers to ensure that all European consumers fully benefit from their rights under Union law. In terms of Strengthening consumer rights online, the New Deal for Consumers will mean:

. More transparency in online market places –When buying from an online market place, consumers will have to be clearly informed about whether they are buying products or services from a trader or from a private person, so they know whether they are protected by consumer rights if something goes wrong.

. More transparency on search results on online platforms –When searchingonline, consumers will be clearly informed when a search result is being paid for by a trader. Moreover, online marketplaces will have to inform the consumers about the main parameters determining the ranking of the results.

New consumer rights for “free” digital services – When paying for a digitalservice, consumers benefit from certain information rights and have 14 days to cancel their contract (withdrawal right). The New Deal for Consumers will now extend this right to ‘free’ digital services for which consumers provide their personal data, but do not pay with money. This typically would apply to cloud storage services, social media or email accounts.

A study on transparency in online platforms, also published today, supports the New Deal’s proposals on online market places. It shows that greater online transparency helps consumers take decisions and increases their trust when buying online.

Source: European Commission