Amendments to the Right of Withdrawal in Electronic Commerce in Spain
The adaptation of Spanish legislation Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer rights has caused several changes to the right of withdrawal. These changes must be taken into account when drafting or amending the Terms of B2C electronic commerce.
Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the Parliament, amending European Parliament and Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Council Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, brings about significant changes in the configuration of the right of withdrawal of consumers which must be taken into account by the trader.
The principle amendments of the right of withdrawal of consumers can be summarised by the following four aspects:
- Extension of the period to exercise the right of withdrawal. Consumers obtain a period of fourteen calendar days to exercise this right, compared to seven days previously. Also, if the trader failed in its duty of providing information and documentation on the right of withdrawal, the period for exercising this right shall be twelve months from the date of expiry of the initial withdrawal period, starting from the delivery of the contract or the conclusion the contract, if the object of this was the provision of services.
- Providing new documentation on the right of withdrawal. The new wording of the General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws provides new models: (i) a model document on user and consumer information about withdrawal and (ii) a model withdrawal form.
- Amendments to the exceptions to the right of withdrawal. For the sake of greater precision, the list of exceptions to exercising the right of withdrawal expands and generic references to the nature of the goods, such as circumstances that prevent the return of the goods, disappear.
- Implementation of the right of withdrawal. Both the consumer and the trader must come to mutual restitution of benefits within a period of 14 calendar days after notification of the consumer invoking the right of withdrawal. The trader can withhold the refund of the initial amount paid by the consumer until receipt of goods or until the consumer has supplied evidence of the return thereof.
It should be noted that Article 28 of Directive 2011/83/EU requires application from June 13, 2014, but given the importance of the changes described above, it is advisable to revise the wording of the general terms and conditions for users and update internal trade procedures to adapt to the new conditions.
Nicolás Melchior
