Online shopping draft law in line with EU directive

MADRID Following the EU directive on the subject of 'distance shopping' (the Spanish bureaucratese term for online shopping), Spain is preparing a draft law aimed at protecting the consumer. Among the most significant items included is that the customer must always know the final price of a product or service bought online. In fact, the draft regulates so-called 'abusive clauses' and reinforces guarantees on online contracts or transactions, which parallels the EU directive on consumer rights and updates existing law. Therefore, contracts must be 'fully comprehensible', according to Government spokeswoman Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who announced the approval of the law at a recent Council of Ministers. The ministerial approval now goes through the parliamentary procedures before it comes into effect. Online customers must 'confirm their awareness of all aspects of the contract' as well as of the final price they must pay. Importantly, particularly when purchasing such services as broad band, mobile phone services or airline tickets, the customer must receive the 'terms and conditions' in writing, on paper. Businesses may not add any extra costs by default but the customer may choose to request and pay for additional products or services.