163 of the 207 Internet sites offering telecommunications services, such as fixed and mobile telephony, internet services, audio and video streaming services, may be in breach of EU consumer law, according to the first pan-European EU Sweep 2017 ", published on 18 May 2018 by the European Commission and the national Consumer Protection Authorities.
According to the Consumer Protection Agency, some of the most common issues identified are: advertising with supposedly free services or discounted service packages that is actually a combined service offering, the lack of a dispute resolution system and the fact that websites can unilaterally amend the terms of the contract without informing or justifying to the consumer.
The Consumer Protection Agency states that the EU Sweep is a series of internet checks, carried out simultaneously by all European Consumer Protection Authorities, to verify that the European Consumer Protection Directives are being implemented in the Member States and adds that in Cyprus the audit was conducted by the Consumer Protection Service and included four websites of telecommunications providers based in Cyprus.
The main findings of the audit are as follows: in 78,7% of cases, the site does not provide a link to the electronic dispute resolution platform (ODR). In 50% of cases, the site advertises certain package services as free or discounted, when in fact they are part of a bundled package. In 40,6% of the sites, there is no description of the dispute resolution system.
In addition, according to the Consumer Protection Service, 31,9% of websites may unilaterally change the terms of the contract or the features of the service without informing the consumer and without allowing the consumer to cancel the contract, while 25,1 % of sites do not provide clear or true information about compensation and refunds when the service offered is not what the customer paid for.
Also, 21,7% of the sites do not provide clear and complete information about the automatic renewal of the contract.
Regarding the next steps, the Consumer Protection Service states that the national authorities will further examine the 163 sites with irregularities, which, if confirmed, will have to be corrected and adds that the national Consumer Protection Authorities will ensure that the sites will be comply with the national enforcement procedures at their disposal.
According to the Agency, Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Gender Equality, stated that "consumers use mobile and Internet subscription services on a daily basis and should be able to trust these services".
He added that this check confirms, however, that some websites that sell such services, mislead consumers by advertising false discounts or by not providing all the information necessary to make an informed choice by the consumer.
"I expect the false and misleading information to be corrected as soon as possible to ensure that this area fully complies with EU consumer rules," he concluded.