European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013.

Statutory Instrument No.484/2013
Published date13 December 2013

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

PART 1

Preliminary Matters

1. Citation and commencement

2. Interpretation

3. Application of Regulations

PART 2

Consumer Information for On-Premises Contracts

4. Application of Part 2

5. Information requirements for on-premises contracts

PART 3

Consumer Information for Off-Premises Contracts and Distance Contracts

6. Application of Part 3

7. Information requirements for off-premises contracts

8. Information requirements for off-premises contracts for repairs or maintenance

9. Provision of copy or confirmation of off-premises contracts

10. Information requirements for distance contracts

11. Additional information requirements for distance contracts concluded by electronic means

12. Provision of confirmation of distance contracts

PART 4

Right to Cancel Distance Contracts and Off-Premises Contracts

13. Application of Part 4

14. Right to cancel

15. Expiry of cancellation period

16. Omission of information on right to cancel

17. Exercise of right to cancel

18. Effects of cancellation

19. Obligations of trader in event of cancellation

20. Return of goods in event of cancellation of sales contract

21. Performance of services and supply of water, gas, electricity or district heating during cancellation period

22. Provision of digital content during cancellation period

23. Effects of cancellation on ancillary contracts

PART 5

Payment Fees, Additional Payments and Charges for Communication by Telephone

24. Application of Part 5

25. Fees for the use of means of payment

26. Additional payments

27. Charges for communication by telephone

PART 6

Passing of Risk and Delivery in Sales Contracts

28. Application of Part 6

29. Amendment of section 20 of Act of 1893

30. Amendment of section 29 of Act of 1893

31. Amendment of section 32 of Act of 1893

PART 7

Unsolicited Goods and Services

32. Amendment of section 47 of Act of 1980

PART 8

Enforcement and Penalties

33. Amendment of Act of 2007

34. Amendment of Act of 2002

35. Authorised officers for purposes of Regulations

36. Amendment of European Communities (Cooperation between National Authorities Responsible for the Enforcement of Consumer Protection Laws) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 290 of 2006 ).

37. Amendment of European Communities (Court Orders for the Protection of Consumer Interests) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 555 of 2010 )

38. Offences and penalties

39. Consumer’s rights cannot be waived

40. Revocations

SCHEDULE 1

Information to be provided prior to conclusion of on-premises contracts

SCHEDULE 2

Information to be provided prior to conclusion of off-premises contracts and distance contracts

SCHEDULE 3

Information concerning the exercise of the right to cancel

S.I. No. 484 of 2013

EUROPEAN UNION (CONSUMER INFORMATION, CANCELLATION AND OTHER RIGHTS) REGULATIONS 2013

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 13th December, 2013.

I, RICHARD BRUTON, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 20111 , hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

Preliminary Matters

Citation and Commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 13 June 2014 and apply to contracts concluded after that date.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“Act of 1893” means the Sale of Goods Act 1893 (1893, c. 71);

“Act of 1980” means the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 (No. 16 of 1980);

“Act of 2002” means the Communications Regulation Act 2002 (No. 20 of 2002);

“Act of 2007” means the Consumer Protection Act 2007 (No. 19 of 2007);

“Agency” means the National Consumer Agency;

“authorised officer” means a person appointed under—

(a) section 39 of the Act of 2002, or

(b) section 30 of the Act of 2007;

“business premises” means—

(a) any immovable retail premises where a trader carries out his or her activity on a permanent basis, or

(b) any movable retail premises where a trader carries out his or her activity on a usual basis;

“commercial guarantee” means any undertaking by a trader or producer to a consumer (in addition to the trader’s legal obligation to supply goods in conformity with the contract) to reimburse the price paid or to replace, repair or service goods in any way if they do not meet the specifications or any other requirements not related to conformity set out in the guarantee statement or in the relevant advertising available at or before the conclusion of the contract;

“Commission” means the Commission for Communications Regulation;

“consumer” means a natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside the person’s trade, business, craft or profession;

“digital content” means data which are produced and supplied in digital form;

“Directive” means Directive 2011/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011;

“distance contract” means a contract concluded between a trader and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, and with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded;

“district heating” means the supply of heat (in the form of steam, hot water or otherwise) to multiple buildings from a central source of production through a transmission and distribution system for the purposes of heating;

“durable medium” means any medium, including paper and e-mail, that—

(a) enables its recipients to store information addressed personally to them in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information, and

(b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the stored information;

“financial service” means any service of a kind normally provided in the ordinary course of carrying on a banking business, an insurance business or a business of providing credit, personal pensions, an investment service or a payment service;

“functionality” in relation to digital content includes region coding, restrictions applied for the purpose of protecting digital rights and other technical restrictions;

“gambling” means wagering a stake with pecuniary value in games of chance, including lotteries, casino games and betting transactions;

“goods” means any tangible movable items with the exception of items sold by way of execution or otherwise by authority of law, and includes gas, water and electricity put up for sale in a limited volume or a set quantity;

“healthcare” means health services provided by health professionals to patients in order to assess, maintain or restore their state of health, whether or not these services are provided via healthcare facilities, and includes the prescription, dispensing and provision of medicinal products and medical devices;

“off-premises contract” means each of the following contracts between a trader and a consumer:

(a) a contract concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;

(b) a contract for which an offer was made by the consumer in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;

(c) a contract concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;

(d) a contact concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting and selling goods or services to the consumer;

“on-premises contract” means a contract between a trader and a consumer which is not a distance contract or an off-premises contract;

“passenger transport services” means services for the conveyance of passengers by air, rail, road, sea or waterway, but excludes car rental services;

“public auction” means a method of sale under which—

(a) goods or services are offered by the trader through a transparent, competitive bidding procedure run by an auctioneer to consumers who attend, or are given the possibility to attend, the auction in person, and

(b) the successful bidder is bound to purchase the goods or services;

“sales contract” means a contract under which a trader transfers or undertakes to transfer the ownership of goods to a consumer and the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price thereof, and includes a contract that has as its object both goods and services;

“service contract” means a contract, other than a sales contract, under which a trader supplies or undertakes to supply a service to a consumer and the consumer pays or undertakes to pay the price thereof, but excludes contracts for the supply of—

(a) digital content not supplied on a tangible medium,

(b) water, gas or electricity not supplied in a limited volume or set quantity, and

(c) district heating;

“social services” includes services related to social housing, childcare and the support of families and persons permanently or temporarily in need, including long-term care;

“trader” means—

(a) a natural person, or

(b) a legal person, whether—

(i) privately owned,

(ii) publicly owned, or

(iii) partly privately owned and partly publicly owned,

who is acting for purposes related to the person’s trade, business, craft or profession, and includes any...

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