Consumer rights during distance trade (concluded distance contracts) are protected by the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law. The law, in addition to defining the term of a distance contract, also determines the exemption from application (Article 61 and Article 62) and the limitation of electronic means with which a distance contract can be concluded (Article 63). Before concluding the contract, consumers are protected by the obligation of prior notification of the most important contract information by the merchant (Article 64). With this law, consumers are protected even after the conclusion of a distance contract, in such a way that articles 66-71 prescribe the consumer’s right to unilaterally terminate the contract, as well as the merchant’s obligation to perform the contract within the deadline. In case of misuse of the payment card, and in connection with the distance contract, Article 72, the consumer may request a reversal or return (reimbursement) of the paid amount. Article 73 prohibits the delivery of goods or services not ordered by the consumer. The concept of a distant contract on financial services is defined in Article 75. Analogously to the rules that apply to distance contracts, Articles 75 to 88 prescribe rules for contracts on financial services (prior notice, contract termination, dispute resolution, etc.). When it comes to “unfair business practices”, the law in Article 117 recognizes 12 aggressive business practices if the merchant addresses the consumer persistently and against his will through means of remote communication. The law also recognizes the precise obligations of inspection supervision of all the rules from the above-mentioned articles.

Online customers have a right to information, whereby the e-merchant must provide the consumer with the following information:

• Clearly present the features of the product or service

• To publish the merchant's trade name

• The address, phone number and email should be published in a visible place

• Shows the total price of the goods or services, including taxes, any transportation, delivery or postage charges and any other charges (if any)

• To inform about the methods of payment and delivery, as well as the date by which the merchant undertakes to deliver the goods or provide the service

• To inform about the conditions, deadlines and procedures for the right to withdraw or the circumstances under which the consumer loses the right to withdraw

• If the right to return is not provided, to inform him that the consumer does not have the right to return

• To inform about the conditions for after-sales services and trade guarantees and the existence of relevant codes of conduct

• If applicable, to publish the procedure applied by the merchant to resolve complaints

Every e-seller is obliged to publish all the above-mentioned information on its website (general conditions of purchase, privacy policy, ordering and payment, delivery and return of goods). In this way, the customer can be informed about all important issues related to the purchase immediately before the purchase. As the number of days of delivery, methods of payment, and other matters of importance for trade, differ from seller to seller, we cannot cover them all in the regulations, but for this reason, the buyer is advised to read the rules that the seller stated on his website when purchasing.

Check the protocol, i.e. whether the e-store starts with “https://” and not just “http://” – the letter “S” (in Latin) and the green padlock icon on the left side next to the website name address indicate safety.

Update your software regularly and turn on automatic updates for your operating system and software.

Install and update firewalls, antivirus and anti-spyware software.

The consumer has the right to withdraw from the distance contract, unless:

• The service contract has been fully executed by the merchant, and execution has begun with the prior express consent of the consumer and his confirmation that he is aware of the fact that he will lose the right to unilaterally terminate the contract

• The subject of the contract is goods or services whose price depends on changes in the financial market that are beyond the merchant's influence, and which may occur during the duration of the consumer's right to unilateral termination of the contract

• The subject of the contract is goods that are made according to the consumer's specifications or that are adapted to the consumer

• The subject of the contract is easily perishable goods or goods that are about to expire

• The subject of the contract is sealed goods which, for health or hygiene reasons, are not suitable for return, if they were unsealed after delivery

• The subject of the contract is goods which, due to their nature, are inseparably mixed with other things after delivery

• The subject of the contract is the delivery of alcoholic beverages, the price of which is agreed upon at the time of concluding the contract, and the delivery may follow after 30 days, if the price depends on changes in the market that are beyond the merchant's influence

• The consumer specifically requested a visit from the merchant to carry out emergency repairs or maintenance, unless during such a visit, in addition to the services that the consumer expressly requested, the merchant also provided other services, i.e. delivered other goods that are not necessary for carrying out urgent repairs or maintenance work

• The subject of the contract is the delivery of sealed audio or video recordings, or computer programs, which were unsealed after delivery

• The subject of the contract is the delivery of daily newspapers, periodicals or magazines, except for subscription contracts for those publications

• A contract concluded at a public tender

• The subject of the contract for the provision of accommodation services that are not intended for housing, transport of goods, vehicle rental services, food and beverage delivery services or services related to leisure activities, if it is agreed that the service will be provided on a certain date or in a certain period of time

• The subject of the contract is the delivery of digital content that was not delivered on a permanent medium if the performance of the contract was started with the prior express consent of the consumer and with his confirmation that he is aware of the fact that by consent he loses the right to unilateral termination of the contract

Consumer has the right, except in the above mentioned cases, without giving a reasons, to unilateral termination of the contract concluded out of the working premises or distance concluded within 14 days from the day of delivery of the goods to the consumer or a third party designated by the consumer, who is not the carrier. In the case of concluding a sales contract, this term starts the day when the goods that are the subject of the contract are delivered to the consumer or a third party appointed by the consumer, who is not the carrier. If with one order the consumer ordered several pieces of goods that should be delivered separately, that is, goods that are delivered in several pieces or shipments, the specified period begins to run from the day of delivery to the consumer or a person designated by the consumer of the last piece or shipment of goods.

The following authorities are responsible for compliance with the regulations governing electronic commerce: the Information Society Services Inspection, which supervises the implementation of the Electronic Commerce Law, as well as the market inspection, the health and sanitary inspection and the tourism inspection, which control the circulation of goods and services on the market in accordance with special laws.

The most common form of illegal trade in goods and services takes place through social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…), for which there is often no information about who opened the account and through whom the trade is carried out. Illegal trade via social networks usually takes place from private houses or apartments, and orders can be created with fictitious data, so accordingly, the limitations in the inspection’s actions in that area should not be explained in particular. Based on that, as well as the fact that this form of illegal activity poses a danger to consumers and harms the legal market of goods and services, a measure was proposed to eliminate this problem.

Namely, the Electronic Commerce Law prescribed an obligation for information society service providers, according to which they must be registered in the Central Register of Business Entities and make their information available to competent authorities (Article 7 of the Electronic Commerce Law). There are penal norms for service providers who do not meet the given condition, and where it is possible to determine the identity of the service provider through social networks, they should be applied. The market inspection carries out inspection supervision in the area of trade in goods and services (which are not under the jurisdiction of other inspections by special regulations). The Internal Trade Law, among other things, stipulates that trade can be carried out electronically, in accordance with a separate law. This law further prescribes distance trade as a special form of retail trade (through the means of distance communication within the sales network organized by the merchant). Also, the conditions for conducting trade are prescribed, so this implies that all those who want to engage in distance trade should fulfill the obligations prescribed by the Internal Trade Law. Of course, before that they must be registered in the Central Register of Business Entities, in accordance with the provisions of the Business Companies Law. At the same time, the rights of consumers during distance trade (concluded distance contracts) are protected by the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law, whereby the national legislation is applied to economic entities that are registered for this type of activity and perform it in Montenegro.