Law 2439 of 2024 (the “Law”) was recently issued. It amends Law 1480 of 2011 (known as the “Consumer Statute”) and establishes a new regulatory framework for electronic commerce.
Below are the main changes introduced by this new Law:
A. Purpose and Effectiveness: The law’s purpose is to adopt rules aimed at modifying the regulatory framework in favor of electronic commerce consumers without ignoring the rights established in the Consumer Statute. This Law has been in force since its publication and abrogates the provisions contrary to it.
B. Scope: The provisions of the Law apply to e-commerce consumer relationships established in Law 1480 of 2011.
C. Amendments to Law 1480 of 2011:
a. Time and form in which money must be refund, if the right of withdrawal is exercised by a consumer:
The final subsection of Article 47 of Law 1480 of 2011 is amended, and a new paragraph is added regarding the right of withdrawal.
In this regard, the Law stipulates that the suppliers of goods and the corresponding financial institution have a period of 15 calendar days to refund the money to a consumer who has exercised the right of withdrawal, provided that the consumer has fulfilled their obligations, which consist of providing the required data to process the refund and returning the product.
Such refund must be made using the payment instrument used by the consumer or, if not possible, by the method agreed upon by the parties. In this sense, the supplier is obligated to inform the available refund options.
In this regard, Article 5 of the Law establishes that the refund must be made through the payment method preferred by the consumer.
b. E-commerce consumer protection: Paragraphs b), g), and h) of Article 50 of Law 1480 of 2011 are amended, regarding the obligations of suppliers offering products through electronic means.
On this matter:
Paragraph b): The Law establishes that suppliers located in the national territory who offer products through electronic means must ensure that clear, accurate, and up-to-date information is provided about the products, including their characteristics such as weight, material, components, manufacturing method, quantity, and quality, among others, regardless of whether images are included. Also, if so, the included services to be performed must be adequately described.
When the minimum product information is regulated by another specific regulation, it must be ensured that this information is provided through the corresponding electronic medium.
The above does not apply to food products, which are not required to provide the manufacturing lot or expiration date in the electronic medium. However, these products must be delivered before their expiration date to ensure their quality and safety.
Finally, the Law establishes that the validity period of the offer and the availability of the product must be indicated, as well as the minimum duration of the contract in the case of continuous performance contracts.
Paragraph g): The Law indicates that suppliers must guarantee the consumer of an electronic commerce medium easy access to means of contact with the supplier, assuring the traceability of the consumer’s claims and leaving a record of the date and time of registration of the claim; with the aim that the consumer can solve his claims in a more efficient way.
Paragraph h): New obligations are created related to the supplier’s term to deliver the product.
First, the Law determined that, if not agreed, the supplier has 30 calendar days to deliver the product to the consumer. If the requested product is not available, the supplier must immediately inform the consumer.
If the delivery time exceeds 30 days or the product is not available, the consumer has the right to unilaterally terminate the contract and request a refund of the money without any withholding or discount.
Such a refund must be made within 15 calendar days.
The rules described in these paragraphs will come into effect 4 months after the publication of the Law, that is, approximately in April 2025.
D. Contact Portal: The Law introduces the definition of “Contact Portal,” which is defined as any electronic platform made available by natural or legal persons, whose purpose is to connect suppliers and consumers in order to establish direct electronic consumer relationships.
E. Special stipulations: A paragraph was added to Article 45 of Law 1480 of 2011, which indicates that when credit operations are carried out through financing systems developed in electronic media, all charges for the use of technology will be considered as interest.
This implies that the supplier is obliged to inform the consumer in a discriminatory manner about the charges associated with the credit, clarifying which ones are part of the interest incurred.
In this sense, the Law indicates that the charges to be paid by the consumer that have been properly informed and are caused independently of the credit, such as insurance, electronic signature charges, or queries to credit bureaus, will not be considered interest.
F. Appeals against acts that impart administrative orders: Finally, numeral 9 of article 59 of the Consumer Statute was modified, which determines that the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce has the jurisdiction to order necessary measures to avoid damages and harm to consumers for violations to the electronic consumer protection rules through administrative orders, which are not subject to appeal of any kind, under the terms of article 75 of Law 1437 of 2011.
If you have any questions about how this new Law affects your activities, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Author: Felipe Olaya