Strategies for its most significant reform of consumer contract law in Ireland in several years have gone out to consultation.
The Consumer Rights Bill 2021, which the government would like to become law by the end of the calendar year, intends to consolidate and modernise customer protection laws, which makes it much easier to navigate to consumers and companies in addition to strengthening their own protections.
It will consist of new statutory rights and remedies in contracts for electronic information, such as video and audio documents and computer games, and electronic services, including streaming solutions, cloud computing and social websites, such as contracts where the customer offers private data instead of paying money.
It is going to also provide for augmented consumer rights about the quality, fitness for function and other facets of providers and also, for the first time, statutory remedies for customers in which the services provided by providers don’t comply with these high quality and other criteria.
There’ll be more powerful transparency requirements under the invoice for terms and terms in standard form customer contracts, and also for the very first time a’black-list’ of contract provisions which are always unjust.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) will obtain new enforcement powers under the invoice where traders don’t offer the reimbursement or remedies to which customers are eligible under the Act.
Robert Troy, minister of state for commerce promotion, electronic and business regulation, stated:”I’m committed to making sure that customer laws must first and foremost give successful protections to customers. I’m conscious that it has to do this in a balanced manner.
“Given the great number of customer transactions which happen on a daily basis, I therefore want to encourage all relevant stakeholders, consumers and businesses alike, to publish their views for the public consultation.
“we would like to hear how the legislative provisions would influence the parties to customer transactions across various sectors of the market and will consider carefully all opinions submitted in response to this consultation.”
