Vartotojo teisė atsisakyti sutarties – praktinis jos įgyvendinimas nuotolinės prekybos sutartyse

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas vartotojo teisės atsisakyti sutarties institutas, jo reikšmė nuotolinės prekybos ir jos modernesnės formos – elektroninės prekybos plėtrai, ištakos ir tikslai, ypatumai ir svarbiausios sąlygos, taip pat šio instituto taikymo teisinės pasekmės ir išimtys. Analizuojama aktuali praktika ir kiti praktiniai šio instituto aspektai Lietuvoje ir kitose ES valstybėse.

The author suggests that the purpose of the consumer’s right of withdrawal is practically important in finding a balance between the consumers’ and business’ interests, e.g., when the consumer has started use of the purchased goods, also in those cases when the business interests would be disproportionally damaged by the withdrawal of the consumer from the contract, e.g., online car rental. The balance principle, however shall not relieve the business from the obligations to provide proper, clear and exhaustive information to the consumer, including information on consumers rights. Conclusions of the analysis, also focus on certain exceptions of the consumer’s right of withdrawal, specifically practical limits in case of extraterritorial situations (distance seller and consumer being in different jurisdictions), and exceptions on the distance contracts which at request of the consumer are fulfilled immediately. These situations may enable certain abuse of the consumer rights. Especially in the latter case, the will of the consumer to enter into such transaction shall be evaluated very carefully, in order to ensure that it is true to the actual intentions of the consumer and free of external unfair influences (such as aggressive marketing or other predatory tactics). These issues require further specific research and potentially special legal regulation.