News item | 29-06-2023 | 08:30
Door sales will soon only be allowed if the consumer agrees to the offer in writing after the conversation has ended, for example by e-mail. There will also be additional legal rules that will make it easier to cancel a subscription online. Those are two of the main goals in the new one Consumer agenda which Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate) has sent to the House of Representatives.
In addition, through European agreements, the minister is committed to safe products on the EU market, reliable sustainability information about products and additional rules for purchases made within an app or online game, so-called in app and in game purchases.
Minister Micky Adriaansens (EZK): “My ambition is that consumers are always well protected and entrepreneurs compete fairly when doing business. As a cabinet, we have taken steps in this direction, but we are not there yet. For example, when it comes to fully and clearly informing consumers about online purchases and stopping misleading information. Think of aggressive door sales that often affect vulnerable people such as the elderly. That is why tackling this, in addition to a fairer digital economy, is one of the spearheads in the Consumer agenda.”
Curb misleading door sales, better apply telemarketing rules
Door sales and telemarketing are intrusive sales methods. Consumers are put under pressure at the door or by telephone to immediately respond to a new energy contract, for example. This particularly affects vulnerable consumers. That is why Minister Adriaansens is going to do the so-called writing requirement also apply legally to door sales. A contract or purchase is then only validly concluded when the consumer agrees in writing to the contract or offer after the conversation has ended.
The government also believes that the rules for telemarketing should be better applied. A company or organization may not ask a consumer to agree to a contract during the conversation, but the consumer must confirm this in writing afterwards. Minister Adriaansens discusses compliance with this with telemarketing parties and then decides whether additional rules are required.
Canceling online is as easy as signing up
Minister Micky Adriaansens (EZK): “Cancelling a subscription digitally is sometimes very difficult. This is undesirable. Canceling a subscription online should be as easy as taking out one. It is regularly made unnecessarily difficult for consumers to cancel, as a result of which they are stuck with an unwanted subscription for longer.” To do something about this, Minister Adriaansen wants to introduce national legislation to make it easier to cancel online. There are already legal obligations for this in Germany and France.
Updating rules for purchases in games and apps, for example
Partly thanks to efforts by the Netherlands, the European Commission has recently improved digital consumer protection throughout the EU. For example, by banning unsafe products on online platforms, giving consumers the right to updates and banning fake reviews. Now it is important to keep these rules up to date and to respond to rapid digital developments, something that the European Commission wants to do.
That is why the Netherlands will in any case focus on additional rules in the EU regarding so-called in app and in game purchases. Users, including children, are regularly actively offered the opportunity in games on their telephone, game console or computer to progress in a game or to unlock more options in an app for a fee. As far as the cabinet is concerned, there will be a ban in any case ‘loot boxes’. These are virtual treasure chests in games where a user does not know what he will receive as a reward for a purchase.
Reliable product information
The Netherlands is actively pushing for stricter rules in the EU greenwashing to counteract. This means that products are presented as sustainable, but that this claim cannot be verified for a consumer. Stricter rules should better enable consumers to make sustainable choices. Companies that are truly sustainable can also distinguish themselves better with their products.
Actions realized previous Consumer Agenda (2018-2022)
In recent years, important actions from the previous EZK Consumer agenda (2018-2022) completed. Consumers must now first give legal permission for telephone sales. But also with the introduction of stricter rules for telephone forwarding services, the right to updates digital products/services, tackling unsafe products on digital platforms, an end to misleading from-for prices and gift vouchers that must now be valid for at least two years.