Business Law / Contracts - France
France increases consumer protection within the service sector. At the beginning of January 2008, Paris passed new regulations designed to improve consumer protection within the service sector.
The relevant law also involved changes to the Code de la consommation (consumer code) and the Code de commerce (business code).
Telecommunications and banking services are particularly affected by the new legislation.
Here is an overview of the most significant changes:
Telecommunications
- Duration of/cancellation periods for mobile telephone contracts: customers now have the right, for example, to cancel two-year contracts after the first year upon payment of compensation not exceeding a quarter of the annual fee
- Cancellation periods for telecommunications contracts: no passing on of costs to customers
- Hotline waiting time: no charge for the customer
- Distance contracts (Internet, telephone or catalogue sales): detailed customer information on the applicability and limits of the right of withdrawal; companies are obliged to make delivery as soon as a contract is concluded unless a delivery time has been contractually agreed
Banking
- Detailed information on fixed-interest credit offers: presentation of a maturity schedule with precise details on the split between redemption payments and interest charges
- Detailed information on variable-interest credit offers: conditions and mechanics of interest rate variations, calculations showing the effects of variations on monthly rates, duration of credit period, integral costs, annual information on the balance to be redeemed (pd/na/bfai)
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