Seven Maltese websites selling electronics under investigation

An exercise conducted by the Consumer and Competition Division of the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the European Commission has found that seven of 10 websites selling electronic goods online are in breach of EU consumer protection rules and are now being investigated.

Details of the websites have not been divulged yet as they are being given time to come in line. "For the moment, we can't name the Maltese websites that were found to be breaching EU laws as the scope of our investigative exercise is not punitive but corrective," an EU official said when asked for details of the Maltese websites involved.

"If, following our warnings, the companies managing these websites persist in breaking the law we will have no other option but to name them publicly," he warned.

The investigation dubbed Sweep and conducted by the European Commission in 26 EU member states, was aimed at detecting misleading advertising and unfair practices on websites selling consumer electronic goods around Europe.

The clampdown covered a total of 369 websites selling six of the most popular electronic goods to consumers in the EU: digital cameras, mobile phones, personal music players, DVD players, computer equipment and game consoles. The results revealed a very worrying situation.

According to the Commission, 55 per cent of the websites investigated - 70 per cent in the case of Malta - had irregularities, particularly relating to misleading information about consumer rights, misleading information about the total cost of the product, or incomplete contact details for the trader.

The initial checks by the national authorities will now be followed by an enforcement phase when companies are contacted by national authorities and required to correct their websites or clarify their position.

The most flagrant irregularity found in 66 per cent of cases under investigation is related to misleading information about consumer rights. Buyers were either not informed at all or misinformed about their "right to return": the right to cancel an order bought within a minimum of seven days and return the product without giving a reason.

Some websites, for example, informed consumers that the trader would not accept the product back or that they could only have credit rather than cash refund.

Misleading price information was also found to be a common occurrence.

The probe also showed that 45 per cent of the problem websites had missing information on delivery charges. Some other websites went as far as promising "free delivery" or an "all-inclusive" deal, even though delivery charges, in fact, applied.

The electronic goods market is one of the most significant in the online e-shopping business, so much so that, according to the Commission, it had a value of €6.8 billion in 2007. It is estimated that one in four EU consumers who ever made an online purchase bought an electronic product (including cameras) and more than a third of complaints regarding online sales handled by European Consumer Centres across the EU concerned the purchase of electronic equipment.

EU Consumers Commissioner Maglena Kuneva said this Europe-wide problem needed a European solution. "There is a lot of work to be done in the months ahead to clean up this sector, Europe's consumers deserve better."

A similar "sweep" carried out last year on websites selling airline tickets had also found a number of irregularities among Maltese websites. However, these were corrected following the EU investigation.