ECJ: Online order button also mandatory if consumer only enters into payment obligation under one condition

Online orders: The order button or the corresponding function must clearly indicate that the consumer enters into a payment obligation when he clicks on it

This also applies if the payment obligation is dependent on the occurrence of a further condition

In Germany, the tenant of an apartment whose monthly rent was above the maximum allowed by national law instructed a debt collection company to reclaim the overpaid rent from his landlords. He placed this order via the website of this service provider. Before clicking on the order button, he ticked the box to agree to the General Terms and Conditions. According to these, tenants must pay compensation amounting to one third of the annual rent saved if the service provider’s efforts to assert their rights were successful.

In the ensuing legal dispute between the service provider and the landlords, the latter claimed that the tenant had not legally commissioned the service provider. The order button did not contain the words “order with obligation to pay” (or equivalent wording), as required by the Consumer Rights Directive.

In this context, the question arose as to whether this requirement also applies if the tenant’s obligation to pay does not follow solely from the order, but also requires that his rights are successfully enforced. The German court hearing the case referred the matter to the Court of Justice.

The Court rules that, in accordance with the requirements of the Directive, the trader must inform the consumer before placing the online order that he is entering into a payment obligation with this order. This obligation of the trader applies irrespective of whether the consumer’s payment obligation is unconditional or whether the consumer is only obliged to pay the trader after the subsequent occurrence of a condition.

If the trader has not complied with his duty to inform, the consumer is not bound by the order. However, nothing prevents the consumer from confirming his order.