The account is ajar: online stores are increasingly abusing hidden fees
Online stores have become more likely to introduce hidden fees, which customers only learn about at the payment stage.: these are commissions for the assembly of orders, delivery and various kinds of "service payments". Consumers complain about this en masse on thematic forums, Izvestia found out. Such practices should be banned, as they have already been done in the EU and the USA, retailers themselves admit. In October, the Association of Professional Manufacturers and Online Service Stores (APPSIM) sent proposals to Rospotrebnadzor and the Ministry of Economic Development to ban such extortion. At the same time, experts note that the problem can be solved within the framework of current legislation.
What fees are imposed on customers
Online stores are increasingly introducing hidden payments at the final stage of ordering: customers are offered to pay extra for shipping, packaging, or charge a "service fee." So, recently, the online retailer Samokat began testing the fee for order collection. Izvestia has recorded numerous user complaints about additional fees on popular forums and social networks. For example, customers note the service fee in Detsky Mir and similar payments in the Cooper online store.
"This is especially inconvenient when the order amount has already been adjusted to the balance on the payment card," one customer complains.
Izvestia sent inquiries to these trade organizations. The Detsky Mir press service explained that the company provides customers with transparent information about the terms of the order and delivery in advance, even at the stage of selecting and forming a basket. They clarified that this information is available both on the website and in the mobile application.
— The company tested the service fee for a month on a limited audience. The amount was 29 rubles, regardless of the cost of the order. According to the results of the pilot, it was decided to abandon this practice, at the moment there is no service fee," the press service said.
Some of the companies involved in online sales agree that a ban on such abuses is really necessary.
— Wildberries has a negative attitude towards the practice of hidden services for clients. When placing an order, the customer voluntarily orders additional services, such as a priority order. There are no preset checkboxes for such services on the site," the Wildberries&Russ press service told Izvestia. — For some goods, the conditions of paid delivery apply — it is convenient for the user to find out about all the conditions for purchasing goods directly at checkout, since at this stage the buyer can change the address information, which entails a change in the terms of service.
Such practices are unacceptable and should be banned, said Anton Guskov, a representative of the RATEK Association of electronics Sellers and manufacturers. However, according to him, the problem of price manipulation on online platforms is not limited to hidden fees and commissions.
— Often, the algorithms for issuing goods on online platforms remain opaque. The user may be shown products that they were not initially interested in, but which the site promotes for a fee. Obviously, the market is not able to cope with such practices on its own, so legislative regulation is required," he believes.
How to stop using hidden payments
For online stores, it is advisable to ban the addition of hidden commissions and payments at the final stage of ordering, according to the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers (APPSIM). Representatives of the organization made such a proposal to the Ministry of Economic Development and Rospotrebnadzor.
Public activists consider it necessary to establish at the legislative level mandatory disclosure of the cost of goods at the stage of completing an order without the possibility of increasing it due to hidden fees and commissions at the final stage. In particular, to amend the laws "On Consumer Rights Protection" and "On Information".
"A user who has invested time and effort in preparing a shopping cart is forced to either agree to an additional payment or refuse an order, which is a form of pressure and infringement of consumer rights. This practice makes it difficult to make an informed decision and, in fact, masks the approval of purchase conditions at the final stage," the authors of the initiative note.
Social networks and large online platforms show how acutely citizens react to the problem of hidden payments, said Vladimir Zykov, director of the association. According to him, world experience shows that abroad they have begun to actively fight against this. For example, in the United States, there is a rule that requires services to fully disclose all payments before order confirmation and prohibits the addition of hidden fees at the final stage of registration. The EU has introduced bans on manipulative interface elements, automatic surcharges, hidden fees and opaque options that can mislead consumers, the association said.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Economic Development and Rospotrebnadzor.
Artyom Sokolov, President of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT), considers the problem far-fetched. According to him, the additional fee is charged mainly for order collection — most often for groceries and for delivery. These costs are not included in the price of the product, as they depend on the region, the remoteness of the locality, the type of delivery (courier or pick-up point) and the logistics company performing the service. The amount becomes known only after the buyer enters the delivery address, the expert explained.
Yaroslav Shitsle, Head of the IT & IP Dispute Resolution department at Rustam Kurmaev & Partners, recalled that the current version of the law on Consumer Rights Protection already obliges sellers to fully inform buyers about the purchased goods, services provided and their cost.
— The established practice in e-commerce, when additional services are added only at the final stage of order processing, may contradict the current requirements of the law. At the same time, in this case, we are not talking about the development of new legislation, but about the formation of law enforcement practice that would prevent such actions," he said.
It is also necessary to develop legislative solutions after studying the technical possibility to display the associated costs in advance already at the stage of viewing the product card, he added. For example, the cost of courier delivery is often determined only when placing an order, taking into account the workload of couriers and other factors, so specifying its final amount in the product card is most likely impossible, the lawyer concluded.
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