Consumer's Telegram April 2024

Insert of n. 29 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre Italy - Bolzano office)

E-COMMERCE

The Digital Services Act is in Force for all Platforms

As of 17th February, the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) are in force for all online platforms accessible from the European Union. The new EU Regulation aims to make the digital environment safer. Its goal is to counter the spread of illegal content and goods by increasing the transparency of information on advertising and limiting advertising based on sensitive data. It also aims to combat phenomena such as hate speech, child pornography, information manipulation and online censorship, and hidden or unfair advertising.
Read on the website of the European Consumer Centre (ECC) what the interesting innovations that will have a direct impact on the lives of digital consumers are.


E-COMMERCE

As of 7th March the rules of the Digital Markets Act apply

Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 and the implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/814 set the new rules for large digital platforms. The so-called Digital Markets Act (DMA) establishes the criteria that identify those large digital platforms, which we all constantly use in our online life, that are the recipients of the new rules. These large businesses are designated as 'gatekeepers' and will no longer be able to take advantage of their dominant position on the digital market to preferentially promote their own products to the detriment of others, impose their own payment method as the only payment option, re-use personal data collected for one service for the purposes of another service, impose unfair conditions on commercial users, prevent users from un-installing any pre-installed software or app if they wish so, and impose restrictions on commercial users of platforms. Read on the ECC website how the new rules will affect consumers.

CAMPAIGN

EU Consumer Rights at the Service of Ukrainian Refugees

The campaign “EU Consumer Rights at the Service of Ukrainian Refugees” is an initiative of the European Commission in 6 EU countries with a high number of refugees: Italy, Germany Poland, Czech Republic, Spain and Bulgaria. The partner of the campaign for Italy is Adiconsum, which provides information on consumer rights in force in the European Union, such as the legal guarantee rights, the right of withdrawal in distance contracts, the legislation on passengers' rights, etc. - rights that are obviously also granted to Ukrainians who had to leave their country because of the war. There is a dedicated section on the Adiconsum website with useful information available in 3 languages: Ukrainian, Italian and English. The ECC is also available to refugees to provide information on rights and assistance in the event of cross-border problems.

CASE OF THE MONTH
An Italian consumer had booked a package holiday with destination Morocco for the month of September 2023. A few days before the planned departure, the country was hit by a devastating earthquake. The consumer contacted the German tour operator because, given the situation, she wanted to cancel her holiday. After a few days, the tour operator agreed to refund a large part of the price in the form of a voucher, but retained the price for the flight because the low-cost airline had operated the flight. The legislation on package holidays, however, provides for the possibility of withdrawing from the contract free of charge in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the place of destination or in its immediate vicinity that significantly affect the performance of the package or the carriage of passengers to their destination. The flight was part of the package and the organiser being responsible for the entire package must refund the total price. Following the intervention of ECC Germany, to which the case was sent, the tour operator offered a voucher for the full amount of the travel price, which the consumer accepted.