from
New year, new legal obligations: the new EU regulation No 524/2013 will go into effect starting January 9th, 2016. It requires online stores and sellers to inform customers of the new ODR platform, which works to resolve consumer disputes. This blog entry describes what online sellers need to do and how they can use plentymarkets to comply with the new regulations.
ToDo list for online sellers
The goal is to help consumers to easily submit complaints and resolve disputes with the ODR platform. We advise online sellers to comply with this regulation since they may otherwise face penalties. Despite the fact that the platform is not anticipated to be available until February 15th, 2016, we still recommend that online sellers comply with the new regulation by January 9th, 2016 to avoid any penalties. You can never be too careful!
- The link to the EU platform for online dispute resolution needs to be visible and easily accessible in the online store.
- This link needs to be displayed in connection with the company's own e-mail address.
- It may also be necessary to update the terms and conditions accordingly. Contact your legal advisor for further information.
The European Commission provided the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.
Example solution for plentymarkets sellers
Our German partner, IT-Recht Kanzlei considers the link to be "easily accessible" in an online store if it is included in the company's legal disclosure. This company information is typically linked in the footer and is thus permanently accessible in the store. We agree with this assessment and have composed appropriate source text for your legal disclosure. Insert the following example alongside your business contact details. This way, you fulfil the requirement of displaying the link in connection with your company's e-mail address. Use the text field or the syntax editor to do so.
Source text for your legal disclosure
<h3>Information about online dispute resolution</h3> <p> The European Commission will begin operating an Internet platform for online dispute resolution during the first quarter of 2016 (a so-called "ODR platform"). The ODR platform will work to resolve disputes relating to legal obligations of online purchases. The ODR platform will facilitate resolving such disputes outside of the courtroom. The ODR platform will be available via the following link: <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/</a> </p>
Please note that the example is only a temporary text. The text will need to be edited again as soon as the ODR platform is up and running.