rec_13

(13) Competent authorities should be able to verify compliance with Union laws that protect consumers’ interests and to obtain evidence of infringements covered by this Regulation, including infringements that take place during or after the purchase of goods or services. Competent authorities should therefore have the power to purchase goods or services as test purchases, where necessary, under a cover identity, in order to detect infringements covered by this Regulation, such as refusals to implement the consumer right of withdrawal in the case of distance contracts, and to obtain evidence. That power should also include the power to inspect, observe, study, disassemble or test a product or service that has been purchased by the competent authority for those purposes. The power to purchase goods or services as test purchases might include the power on the part of competent authorities to ensure the return of any payment made where such return would not be disproportionate and would otherwise comply with Union and national law.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-10 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.