Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 December 2018
283. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the consumer regulations in place to enable consumers to leave a service provider contract over the phone as opposed to in writing. [53658/18]
View answerIn the absence of information about the type of contract at issue and the terms and conditions of that contract, I am not in a position to give a full reply to this question. The general consumer protection legislation for which my Department has responsibility does not, with one exception, contain provisions on the means by which contracts are to be terminated or rescinded. That exception relates to the exercise by consumers of the right to cancel distance or off-premises contracts within a fourteen-day cancellation period under the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 484 of 2013). Regulation 14 of the Regulations provides that consumers must inform the trader of their decision to cancel the contract by using the model withdrawal form set out in the Regulations or by making any other unequivocal statement setting out the consumer's decision to cancel the contract. Contracts, particularly longer-term contracts, may contain terms on the means by which notice of termination is to be given. Any non-negotiated term of this kind is subject to assessment for fairness under the European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995 (S.I. No. 27 of 1995). The indicative list of contract terms considered unfair in Schedule 3 of the Regulations includes a number of terms as follows that are relevant to the termination of contracts:
- inappropriately excluding or limiting the legal rights of the consumer vis-à-vis the seller or supplier or another party in the event of total or partial non-performance or inadequate performance by the seller or supplier of any of the contractual obligations, including the option of offsetting a debt owed to the seller or supplier against any claim which the consumer may have against him;
- authorising the seller or supplier to dissolve the contract on a discretionary basis where the same facility is not granted to the consumer, or permitting the seller to retain the sums paid for services not yet supplied by him where it is the seller or supplier himself who dissolves the contract;
- enabling the seller or supplier to terminate a contract of indeterminate duration without reasonable notice except where there are serious grounds for doing so;
- automatically extending a contract of fixed duration where the consumer does not indicate otherwise, when the deadline for the consumer to express this desire not to extend the contract is unreasonably early.
There may also be provisions on matters relating to contract termination in sectoral legislation for which my Department does not have responsibility, such as the legislation on electronic communications networks and services.
