PRESS RELEASE

UNFAIR CLAUSES: THE ICA INTERVENES AND PAYPAL MODIFIES ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Following a public discussion which saw the participation of consumers’ associations, the ICA launched investigations against Paypal. The proceedings concluded with the requirement for the company to modify its Terms and Conditions diffused on the Internet (www.paypal.com/it) so as to eliminate several unfair clauses. In particular, the removal of a specific clause in the Purchase Protection Programme (Programma Protezione Acquisti - PPA) allows buyers to be refunded if they can prove the non-delivery of the product despite the seller’s certification of delivery or shipping.

The ICA’s intervention concerned in detail:

• the clause on the non-use of the Purchase Protection Programme with object "Significantly non-compliant to the description": this clause was considered unfair because capable of limiting the implementation of refunds guaranteed by PayPal in case of delivery of a good different from the description, since no clear definition of "Significantly non-compliant to the description" was provided giving the company full discretionality to assess conformity of the item bought;
• the clauses on the applicable legislation and cognizant jurisdiction: these clauses were considered unfair because capable of causing a significant lack of balance between consumers’ rights and obligations, since the applicable jurisdiction was only UK law and UK courts or in alternative a Luxembourg court, thus derogating to the principle of the competent court being the place of residence of the consumer.

The new contractual clauses are already available online and shall enter into force on 23 March 2016. Moreover, the changes made in the Terms and Conditions will be valid in all of Europe.

Rome, 3 March 2016