Cancellation button mandatory for online contracts from July 2022

Contracts are closed online with a click of the mouse. From July 1st, canceling should be just as easy. A corresponding button then makes it possible.

Whether mobile phone, Internet contracts or a subscription to the streaming service – a contract can be quickly concluded on the Internet with one click. However, providers often did not make termination that easy for users. That should now change with the cancellation button. Starting in July, terminating a contract with a button will be just as easy as making an online purchase. “Cancel contracts here”, for example, must be written on the easily recognizable button.

According to the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center, all so-called continuous obligations against payment are affected. These include, for example, a subscription to a magazine or streaming service, a mobile phone contract or membership in the gym. From July, the new button will be mandatory for all providers who also offer online contracts.

Two cancellation clicks are enough

Consumers can also use the cancellation button if they concluded the contract to be canceled before July 1, 2022 and possibly in a different way than online.

Anyone who clicks on the cancellation button will be redirected to a confirmation page. Concrete information is possible there, for example which contract it is about or when you want to terminate the contract. The cancellation is transmitted at the end by clicking on another button, for example with the inscription “Cancel now”.

Also read: From now on you can cancel many contracts monthly!

Receipt is confirmed

These buttons need to be readily available and easily accessible, so you don’t need to log into a website first. The respective company receives the cancellation directly in this way and must also confirm receipt immediately. As a rule, this is done via an automatic confirmation of receipt by e-mail.

If you want, you can still cancel by post or email. In general, of course, the respective notice periods must be observed. If no exact time is given when canceling, the next possible date will automatically apply.

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Consequences if there is no cancellation button

If a company does not set up the mandatory button on its website, consumers even have the right to terminate a contract there at any time and with immediate effect. Then you don’t have to give a notice period.

However, they have to prove the missing button themselves, for example by taking a screenshot, explains Iwona Husemann from the NRW consumer advice center. In addition, it may happen that the cancellation button is temporarily unavailable for technical reasons.

Important to know: Certain contracts are excluded from the cancellation button. According to the law, written notice is required, for example, for rental or employment contracts and contracts for financial services.

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