Consumer Rights Act & Digital Content

31 Mar 2015 12:20 PM

The Act introduces a range of new rights for consumers including replacement rights for faulty digital content.

On 26 March, the Consumer Rights Act was granted Royal Assent. The Act, which will come into force on 1 October 2015, introduces a range of new rights for consumers including replacement rights for faulty digital content.

This is the first time in the UK that digital content has been specified in a piece of consumer rights legislation. It is therefore vital that technology companies are aware of the potential implications of this legislation on their business. Key elements of the new rights and remedies around digital content include:

• Right to repair or replacement or, if that is not practical or feasible, a price reduction for faulty intangible digital content.
• Refund without undue delay and at the latest within 14 days if trader had no right to supply the digital content.
• Right to a remedy if digital content damages hardware or other digital content and the consumer can prove that the trader did not act with reasonable care and skill.
• Digital content on disk or in goods gives rise to the same remedies as goods.

Additionally, from July, Alternative Dispute Resolution will be available to all businesses to help when a dispute cannot be settled directly with the consumer. Up until now, the service has only been available in certain sectors.

techUK did a lot of work on the Bill as it progressed through the Parliament. As part of our lobbying efforts to influence the Bill, techUK undertook a number activities, which included submission to the House of Commons Public Bill committee, its various members and the BIS minister; engagement with the BIS Bill team and input into the ongoing work around the plans for implementation of the Bill. While we welcomed the key principles of the Bill, our focus was on ensuring that the Bill did not have a negative impact on technology companies, and consequently, on consumers.

Now that the Act has received Royal Assent, we will work to ensure smooth implementation of the new rules in a way that does not place unnecessary burden on tech companies. Our work will include:

• A series of sessions for our members with The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) to ensure that the new rights around digital content is fully understood by tech companies so that they can plan for when the changes come into force. The details of these sessions will be finalised after the general election in May.
• techUK will continue to play an active role on the Implementation Working Group for the Consumer Rights Bill run by BIS. The group draws together a wide spectrum of consumer, business and enforcer representatives to work with government on a co-ordinated approach on the content, channels and timing of guidance, advice and publicity for the new consumer law.

Further information

• Link to the government press release and full text of the Act is available ongov.uk
• techUK press release on the topic can be found on our website
• More information and guidance for businesses can be found on the Business Companion website, or if businesses would like to speak to someone about this, they can call the Business Support Helplines.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the implications for your business with us, please do get in touch.