§3.8 Prizes – No 31

Point No 31 of Annex I ‘Creating the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on doing a particular act win, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact either: — there is no prize or other equivalent benefit, or — taking any action in relation to claiming the prize or other equivalent benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost.’ The assessment of the first category of situations (i.e. no prize) is fairly straightforward. In order not to breach the ban, traders must always be able to demonstrate that they awarded the prize/s or equivalent benefit/s in the exact terms stated in their announcement to the consumer. Failing this, the practice would fall under the ban. For example: — A trader created the false impression that consumers could win a prize by stating that everyone who participated in a specific lottery would have the chance to win a laptop computer. In reality, no such computer could be won (272). — A trader created the false impression that a consumer had won a prize by stating unequivocally in a letter to the consumer that they had won a prize of 18 000 euros, when in fact there was no such prize. A national court clarified that this commercial practice was contrary to the national law transposing Annex I No 31 of the UCPD (273). The second part of point No 31 (i.e. the prize or benefit is subject to the consumer paying money or incurring a cost) covers dishonest practices where, for instance, consumers are informed that they have won a prize but have to call a premium rate line to claim it, or where consumers are initially informed that they have won a prize but then learn that they must order another good or service to receive the advertised prize or the equivalent benefit. The Court has clarified that even when the cost imposed on the consumer for claiming the prize (i.e. requesting information on the nature of that prize or taking possession of it) is minimal, as in the case of a stamp, compared to the value of the prize, and regardless of whether the payment of such costs procures any benefits to the trader, such practices are prohibited by point No 31 of Annex I (274). For example: A mail order company sent promotional advertising by post stating that the consumer ‘is guaranteed 100 % that they are one of the selected people to receive an electronic product. This product is free of charge!’ In fact, consumers had to respond within 2 days and pay EUR 19,99 to cover ‘administration and transport costs’. A consumer authority found that giving consumers the false impression that they have already won a prize while requiring them to pay a fee within 2 days of receiving notice of the promotional action fell under point No 31 of Annex I and also other blacklisted actions such as No 20 owing to the use of the word ‘free’ (275).

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