The law for fair consumer contracts, which has been in force for a year, has not been effectively implemented according to consumer advocates. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) conducted a survey and found that many providers are not fulfilling their obligation to include a cancellation button on their websites. In June, the vzbv searched the websites of 2946 providers and found that only 42 percent of them had a cancellation button. Some buttons had labels that deviated from the required wording and others were only partially visible at the bottom of the website. This is an increase from November 2022, when the vzbv found correct cancellation buttons on 28 percent of the websites.
Consumers still face obstacles and problems when trying to terminate fixed-term contracts online. For example, providers often make the termination form available only after the customer has logged in, which is against the law. The vzbv used a Python script to analyze provider websites and identified almost 3,000 websites that should have had a cancellation button since July 1, 2022. The cancellation button is required for almost all continuing obligations that can be concluded online, including subscription, leasing, and mobile phone contracts. It also applies to contracts that were created before July 1, 2022. If a cancellation button is not provided, customers have the right to cancel at any time without a notice period. However, cancellation buttons are not appropriate for contracts with stricter legal cancellation requirements, such as rental and employment contracts or contracts for financial services.
