Omnibus directive – changes in e-commerce
The EU Omnibus Directive should take effect on May 28, 2022. What does this mean for consumers and businesses? The most important changes concern the display of prices and terms of promotions in stationary and online stores. The customer must be informed of all price changes over the past 30 days and clearly indicate the lowest price in effect during that time frame.
Whenever advertising a reduction in the price of a good or service, traders will have to implement the discussed obligations to make information about the reductions visible. In other words, in advertising, in addition to information about the reduced price, it will be necessary to inform about the lowest price of the good or service that was in effect during the 30-day period before the introduction of the reduction. The trader will have an obligation to ensure that consumers’ opinions about the seller or its product come from people who have actually purchased or used the product. If he fails to do so, he will not be able to use them or will face liability for unfair market practices. Already, any fake product reviews or so-called “live sales notifications” constitute an act of unfair competition. After the changes resulting from the directive, it will be the entrepreneur who will have to prove the veracity of the techniques used in so-called FOMO marketing.
changes introduces: Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 27, 2019, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to better enforcement and modernization of EU consumer protection rules.
