Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: Slovak Trade Inspection, 30/11/2010 ref. code: P/0359/07/2010
    • Member State: Slovakia
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Administrative decision, first degree
    • Decision date: 30/11/2010
    • Court: Slovak Trade Inspection, Prešov Slovak Trade Inspection, Inspectorate with its registered seat in Prešov, Prešov district
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff:
    • Defendant: BILLA s.r.o.
    • Keywords: advertisement, average consumer, material information, terms & conditions
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 1. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Article 5, 2., (b) Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 7, 2.
  • Headnote
    It is an unfair commercial practice to provide a consumer with information in a way which is unclear or impossible to read for an average consumer.
  • Facts
    The defendant, a supermarket chain, provided information in its weekly leaflet concerning its terms of sale when buying products.

    This information was provided in an unsuitable size of characters which were not readable for an average customer. It was made clear that the information in the leaflet was impossible to read without magnification.



     
  • Legal issue
    In a short reasoning, the administrative body established that the defendant's conduct constituted a breach of the Slovak Consumer Protection Act, which contains a prohibition on the use of unfair commercial practices.

    According to the administrative body, the information provided in such an unclear and untimely manner (in this case, the formatting of the text was so small that it was impossible to read) may cause an average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

    The administrative body therefore concluded that the defendant committed an unfair commercial practice.
  • Decision

    Is it an unfair commercial practice to provide a consumer with information in a way which is unclear or impossible to read for an average consumer?

    URL: http://www.soi.sk/files/documents/pravoplatne-rozhodnutie/prvostupnove/bratislavsky-kraj/ba012011.rtf

    Full text: Full text

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  • Result
    The administrative body, taking into account the long duration of the breach, imposed a fine of €2.000.