On 25 January 2024, the Order of the President of the National Authority for Consumer Protection no. 225 of 25 April 2023 regarding the information provided to consumers by economic operators conducting business online (hereinafter referred to as the ”Order no. 225/2023”) entered into force. Order no. 225/2023 was published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 1110 on 11 December 2023, in Part I, but its provisions came into effect within 45 days from that date, as determined by the National Authority for Consumer Protection (the ”NACP”), the issuing authority of this order.
The purpose of Order no. 225/2023 is to ensure more effective information for consumers who approach economic operators in this capacity, specifically those operators which carry out their commercial activities online (the ”Targeted Operators”), regarding the legal conditions under which the latter operate.
According to the report that substantiated the draft of Order no. 225/2023, prepared by the General Directorate for Market Control and Surveillance and European Harmonization within NACP, the order aims to impose on the Targeted Operators a regime of consumer information obligations similar to that already applicable to economic operators conducting business in physical stores or spaces. These operators were already required to display their operational documents, allowing for an accurate, complete and precise consumer information about the legality of their commercial activity.
Essentially, the Targeted Operators must display certain elements (the ”Elements”) on their web pages, for the purpose of informing consumers:
- the legal entity’s name;
- the unique registration code;
- the number from the legal entity register indicating the scope(s) of activity;
- the address of the headquarters and / or of the work point where they effectively conduct their activities;
- the series and number of all permits, approvals, certifications, certificates, licenses necessary for conducting their activities, as well as the issuer(s) of these documents.
The same obligations to display these Elements also apply to the Targeted Operators which manage or are present on web pages for sales, for online order taking and / or for product and / or service advertising, for tourism services, for marketing of tourism packages or of airline tickets, including e-commerce.
Furthermore, Order no. 225/2023 details how the Elements’ display should be executed:
- the Elements must be placed within the consumer’s visual field upon first contact with the presentation of the Targeted Operator, before the point where the consumer could place an order, ensuring that the specific information of the Elements is easily identifiable;
- additionally, the Elements should not be hidden by other written or photographic materials or should not become available to the consumer only after searching.
It is also noteworthy that Targeted Operators which refuse to display the Elements will be delisted from the sales web page at the request of NACP.
Order no. 225/2023 was issued in application of the provisions of Government Ordinance no. 21 of 21 August 1992 on consumer protection (the ”G.O. no. 21/1992“) and, thus, it should be read and interpreted in light of the provisions of this ordinance.
Therefore, Order no. 225/2023 may be more complex than it appears to be at first reading, thus we kindly recommend to all Targeted Operators to seek specialized advice in order to ensure the correct implementation of the provisions of this order.
