§5.6.2 Consumer’s compensation obligation

Article 14 3. Where a consumer exercises the right of withdrawal after having made a request in accordance with Article 7(3) or Article 8(8), the consumer shall pay to the trader an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided until the time the consumer has informed the trader of the exercise of the right of withdrawal, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract. The proportionate amount to be paid by the consumer to the trader shall be calculated on the basis of the total price agreed in the contract. If the total price is excessive, the proportionate amount shall be calculated on the basis of the market value of what has been provided. If the consumer withdraws from the contract during the right of withdrawal period after requesting its immediate performance, Article 14(3) requires the consumer to pay the trader an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided on the basis of the total price agreed: — For example, a consumer who withdraws from a contract for mobile telephone services after using the service for 10 days would have to pay the trader one third of the monthly subscription (133) plus the price of any additional services received during that period. Where the provision of services involves one-off costs to the trader to make them available to the consumer, the trader may include them in the calculation of the compensation: — For example, the trader may include the cost of installation works at the consumer’s place of residence that are carried out as part of a contract for land-line electronic communication services before the consumer withdraws from the contract. However, the compensation should be based on the market value of what has been provided if the total price is excessive. Useful explanations of how to determine the market value are provided in Recital 50, which states: ‘[…] The calculation of the proportionate amount should be based on the price agreed in the contract unless the consumer demonstrates that the total price is itself disproportionate, in which case the amount to be paid shall be calculated on the basis of the market value of the service provided. The market value should be defined by comparing the price of an equivalent service performed by other traders at the time of the conclusion of the contract. […]’ Recital 14 refers to the application of Member States’ rules ‘on excessive or extortionate prices’, which may be relevant in applying Article 14(3). In case C-641/19 PE Digital the CJEU clarified that when applying Article 14(3) in order to determine the proportionate amount to be paid by the consumer to the trader, where that consumer withdraws from that contract after they have expressly requested that the performance of the service begins during the withdrawal period, it is appropriate, in principle, to take account of the price agreed in the contract for its full duration and to calculate the amount owed pro rata temporis . It is only where the contract expressly provides that: (i) one or more of the services are to be provided in full from the beginning of the performance of the contract (ii) for a price which must be paid separately, that the full price for such a service should be taken into account in the calculation of the amount owed to the trader under Article 14(3) (134). The Court further clarified in PE Digital that the test for the excessiveness of the compensation demanded by the trader is market-based. Pursuant to Article 14(3) of the CRD, read in the light of Recital 50 thereof, in this analysis account should be taken of the price of the service offered by the trader to other consumers under the same conditions and the price of an equivalent service supplied by other traders at the time of the conclusion of the contract (135). Where services are provided under a sales contract, Recital 50 states the following: ‘[…] For contracts having as their object both goods and services, the rules provided for in this Directive on the return of goods should apply to the goods aspects and the compensation regime for services should apply to the services aspects ’. The compensation regime for services performed during the right of withdrawal period is set out in Article 14(3) and (4)(a) – see also section 5.8.2. So, in situations where the service is provided during the right of withdrawal period from the sales contract (e.g., installation service is provided immediately upon delivery of a goods), the trader should also obtain the consumer’s express request for the performance of the service during the right of withdrawal period, if the trader wishes to be compensated for that service in the event that the consumer withdraws from the sales contract: — For example, a distance or off-premises sales contract may provide for delivery and installation of a household appliance. If the consumer expressly requests the trader to install the appliance immediately upon its delivery, but then decides to withdraw from the contract within the right of withdrawal period (14-days from delivery), the trader would be entitled to compensation for the installation costs (in addition to any compensation for the diminished value of the appliance, if applicable). The obligation for the trader to request the consumer to acknowledge that, once the contract has been fully performed by the trader, the consumer will no longer have the right of withdrawal, which was added to Article 7(3) and 8(8) by Directive (EU) 2019/2161, is not relevant in the case of services provided under sales contracts. This obligation concerns only service contracts, as only service contracts are subject to the exception from the right of withdrawal provided in point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 16.

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