Amendments to consumer and user regulations (Royal Decree-Law 24/2021)

On November 3, 2021, Royal Decree-Law 24/2021 of November 2 was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), which amends, among other regulatory texts, Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007 of November 16, 2007, approving the revised text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws (“TRLGDCU”). The purpose of the reform is to transpose Directive 2019/2161 for the improvement of the application and modernization of consumer protection rules.

There are many regulatory changes that Article 82.2 of Royal Decree-Law 24/2021 incorporates in the TRLGDCU. Below are some of the most relevant ones:

New and specific information requirements are included for contracts concluded away from business premises and some aspects of the specific regime of distance contracting and away from business premises are corrected.
Certain obligations regarding information and transparency of entrepreneurs vis-à-vis consumers are also added, including: (i) offering consumers the possibility of searching for goods and services on the basis of a query in the form of a keyword, expression or other type of data entered and (ii) facilitating access to consumer and user reviews of goods and services, ensuring that these reviews have been made by consumers and users who have actually used or purchased the good or service.
A new sanctioning system is established, which incorporates new infringements in the area of consumer law. Likewise, the system of consumer protection penalties is adapted to the requirements of national and European market unity, ensuring that the applicable penalties are effective, proportional and dissuasive, and including new infringements.
Corrective measures available to consumers who have been subject to unfair commercial practices are incorporated, such as termination of the contract and compensation, the amount of which will vary according to the type of infringement.
The regulation on the computation of the time limits of the right of withdrawal for consumers in certain types of contracts with entrepreneurs is modified. Specifically, the 14-day period of the right of withdrawal is extended to 30 calendar days in the case of contracts concluded in the context of unsolicited visits to the consumer’s home; or of excursions organized for the purpose or with the effect of promoting or selling goods or services, both carried out by the entrepreneur.
New obligations are included for the entrepreneur in relation to transparency requirements in search engines and in relation to contracts for the supply of digital content and services.
This amendment regarding consumers and users will enter into force as of May 28, 2022, with the exception of the sixteenth paragraph of Article 82 regarding the consumer’s or user’s personal data, which is scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2022.

In view of the relevance and impact of these amendments derived from Royal Decree-Law 24/2021, in the next blog entries we will go deeper into the analysis of other matters also subject to reform, such as unfair competition or open data.