§1.6.1 Contracts against payment

Directive (EU) 2019/2161 amended the definitions of sales and service contracts set out in Article 2(5) and (6) of the CRD which no longer refer to the consumer paying a ‘price’. However, taking into account the amendments in Article 3, these contracts remain subject to the Directive only where the consumer has to pay a price (unless the subject of a service contract is a digital service – see below). The ‘payment of a price’ should be understood broadly, covering also instruments with a certain convertible or monetary value (even if it can vary in time), such as vouchers, (24) gift cards, loyalty points, as well as digital representation of value (25) such as e-vouchers, e-coupons and virtual currencies. The Directive applies irrespective of the value of the transaction, thus low value subscription services (e.g. EUR 5 per month or per year to receive access to premium goods or offers) are also covered. The Directive also applies to service contracts, including contracts for digital services, that include a free trial period and are automatically converted into paid contracts once the trial period ends (unless the consumer terminates the contract before the trial period ends). Where a (limited version) of the digital service is available for free, following which the consumer can opt for the paid (full) service, two successive separate contracts will be concluded. The Directive will apply in this case to the paid contract, whereas its applicability to the first contract for the free (limited) version of the digital service will depend on whether the consumer provides personal data under the conditions provided in Article 3(1a). The Directive does not apply to gifts or to services provided by the trader without the payment of the price, i.e. for ‘free’ (26).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07