Consumer Rights Directive

1. This Directive shall apply, under the conditions and to the extent set out in its provisions, to any contract concluded between a trader and a consumer where the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price. It shall apply to contracts for the supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating, including by public providers, to the extent that these commodities are provided on a contractual basis.

1a. This Directive shall also apply where the trader supplies or undertakes to supply digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium or a digital service to the consumer and the consumer provides or undertakes to provide personal data to the trader, except where the personal data provided by the consumer are exclusively processed by the trader for the purpose of supplying the digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium or digital service in accordance with this Directive or for allowing the trader to comply with legal requirements to which the trader is subject, and the trader does not process those data for any other purpose.

1b. In the case of distance contracts concluded between a trader and a consumer for the supply of financial services, only Articles 1 and 2, Article 3(2), (5) and (6), Article 4, Article 6a, Article 8(6), Article 11a, Articles 16a to 16e, Article 19, Articles 21 to 23, Article 24(1) and (6), Articles 25 to 27 and Article 29 shall apply.

With the exception of Article 21, where contracts referred to in the first subparagraph comprise an initial service agreement followed by successive operations, or a series of separate operations, of the same nature, performed over time, the provisions referred to in the first subparagraph shall apply only to the initial agreement.

In the event that there is no initial service agreement but the successive operations, or separate operations, of the same nature performed over time are performed between the same contractual parties, Articles 16a and 16d shall apply only to the first operation.

Where, however, no operation of the same nature is performed for more than one year, the next operation will be deemed to be the first in a new series of operations and, accordingly, Articles 16a and 16d shall apply.

2. If any provision of this Directive conflicts with a provision of another Union act governing specific sectors, the provision of that other Union act shall prevail and shall apply to those specific sectors.

3. This Directive shall not apply to contracts:

(a) for social services, including social housing, childcare and support of families and persons permanently or temporarily in need, including long-term care;

(b) for healthcare as defined in point (a) of Article 3 of Directive 2011/24/EU, whether or not they are provided via healthcare facilities;

(c) for gambling, which involves wagering a stake with pecuniary value in games of chance, including lotteries, casino games and betting transactions;

(d) for financial services not covered by Article 3(1b);

(e) for the creation, acquisition or transfer of immovable property or of rights in immovable property;

(f) for the construction of new buildings, the substantial conversion of existing buildings and for rental of accommodation for residential purposes;

(g) on packages as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 of the European Parliament and of the Council . Article 6(7), Article 8(2) and (6) and Articles 19, 21 and 22 of this Directive shall apply mutatis mutandis to packages as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/2302 in relation to travellers as defined in point 6 of Article 3 of that Directive;

(h) which fall within the scope of Directive 2008/122/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts ;

(i) which, in accordance with the laws of Member States, are established by a public office-holder who has a statutory obligation to be independent and impartial and who must ensure, by providing comprehensive legal information, that the consumer only concludes the contract on the basis of careful legal consideration and with knowledge of its legal scope;

(j) for the supply of foodstuffs, beverages or other goods intended for current consumption in the household, and which are physically supplied by a trader on frequent and regular rounds to the consumer’s home, residence or workplace;

(k) for passenger transport services, with the exception of Article 8(2) and Articles 19, 21 and 22;

(l) concluded by means of automatic vending machines or automated commercial premises;

(m) concluded with telecommunications operators through public payphones for their use or concluded for the use of one single connection by telephone, Internet or fax established by a consumer;

(n) for any goods sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law.

4. Member States may decide not to apply this Directive or not to maintain or introduce corresponding national provisions to off-premises contracts for which the payment to be made by the consumer does not exceed EUR 50. Member States may define a lower value in their national legislation.

5. This Directive shall not affect national general contract law such as the rules on the validity, formation or effect of a contract, in so far as general contract law aspects are not regulated in this Directive.

6. This Directive shall not prevent traders from offering consumers contractual arrangements which go beyond the protection provided for in this Directive.