The Difference Between Unfair Terms and Unfair Commercial Practices: Criteria and Useful Examples for Consumers
Automatically translated summary. The full text is available in Romanian.
An article by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup”, produced under the national consumer information campaign, explains how unfair contract terms differ from unfair commercial practices. It outlines how the Republic of Moldova protects consumers against such abuses, focusing on the definition of unfair terms, examples and enforcement.
Consumers and traders rarely have equal bargaining power, since traders draft the contracts. Moldovan protections are set out mainly in the Law on Consumer Protection and the Civil Code, in line with UN guidelines promoting ethical business conduct.
An unfair term is a provision not individually negotiated that, contrary to good faith, creates a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the consumer’s detriment. Examples include unilateral changes to price or conditions, unjustified limits on the trader’s liability, excessive advance payments, no right to terminate or obtain a refund, and disputes resolved only in the trader’s chosen way. Such terms are void by law. Oversight lies with the State Inspectorate for the Supervision of Non-Food Products and Consumer Protection and, in finance, the National Financial Market Commission, which can bring court action. Courts may remove the terms from all similar contracts and prohibit their future use.
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