Temu notified to comply with European Union consumer protection laws

On 8 November, following a coordinated investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer protection authorities and the European Commission notified Temu of a series of practices on its online platform that infringe European Union (EU) consumer law and that must be brought into line with EU consumer laws.

This CPC Network action against Temu is led by the competent national authorities of Belgium (Directorate General for Economic Inspection), Germany (Federal Environment Agency) and Ireland (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission), under the coordination of the European Commission.

The CPC Network’s coordinated investigation covers a range of practices that consumers are confronted with while shopping on the Temu platform, including those that may mislead consumers or unduly influence their purchasing decisions. The CPC Network is also investigating whether Temu complies with specific information obligations for online marketplaces under consumer law.

The CPC Network has identified several types of problematic practices on the Temu platform, which it considers to violate EU consumer protection laws, such as:

• False discounts: Giving the false impression that products are offered at a discount that does not actually exist;
• Pressure selling: Putting consumers under pressure to complete purchases using tactics such as false claims about limited stocks or false purchase deadlines;
• Forced gamification: Forcing consumers to play a “spin the wheel of fortune” game to access the platform, while hiding essential information about the terms of use associated with the game’s rewards;
• Missing and misleading information: Displaying incomplete and incorrect information about consumers’ legal rights to return goods and receive refunds. Temu also fails to inform the consumer in advance that their order needs to reach a certain minimum value before they can complete the purchase;
• Fake reviews: Providing inadequate information about how Temu ensures the authenticity of the reviews published on its website. National authorities have found reviews that they suspect are not authentic;
• Hidden contact details: Consumers cannot easily contact Temu for questions or complaints.

In addition, the CPC Network requested information from Temu to assess the company’s compliance with other obligations under EU consumer law, such as the obligation to clearly inform consumers whether the seller of a product is a trader or not; to ensure that product ratings, reviews and rankings are not presented to consumers in a misleading manner; to ensure that price reductions are advertised and calculated correctly; and to ensure that any environmental claims are accurate and substantiated.

Temu now has one month to respond to the CPC Network's findings and propose commitments on how it will address the issues identified. If Temu fails to address the concerns raised by the CPC Network, national authorities may take enforcement action to ensure compliance. This includes the possibility of imposing fines based on Temu's annual turnover in the Member States concerned.

 

Source DGC, available at: https://www.consumidor.gov.pt/comunicacao1/noticias1/detalhe-da-noticia?uri=10251