Responsibility of online stores for deceiving customers

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Nowadays, people buy almost as much online as they do in regular stores. A number of laws are used to control online trade. These include the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights No. 2300-1, which was revised in 2020; in addition, the Civil Code, the Criminal Code, and the Code of Administrative Offenses.

A customer who makes a purchase online has the same rights and obligations as a customer in an offline store.

The Law on the Protection of Consumer democratic donor email list Rights lists the following rights:

The customer has the right to receive comprehensive information about the product, and it must be on the website . The buyer has the right to go to court with a demand to declare the transaction invalid if at the time of purchase he did not have sufficient information about the cost of the item, its configuration, packaging, data on whether the item is new or used, as well as information on delivery conditions and warranty periods.

Warranty conditions applicable to goods sold online are no different from those in offline trade . Only warranty periods may be different. According to the law, this period does not include the time when the goods were at the post office. That is, the warranty comes into force from the moment the customer receives the order. This is where online stores sometimes deceive and try to shorten the warranty period (by adding to it the time the parcel was at the post office). Then the customer has the right to resolve the issue in court.

The customer has the right to return the purchased item within 14 days . If the website says that this cannot be done, then the online store is again deceiving the buyer. The main thing here is to keep the receipt, packaging, and it should be clear that the item has not been used. And at the moment when the seller receives the return by mail, the customer will get his money back. The specified 14 days do not include the time while the parcel is in transit and national holidays.

Fraudsters' actions both offline and online fall under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In general, this offense and the penalties for it are interpreted differently in different countries. For example, many countries establish a certain amount of damage from fraud, after which criminal punishment is provided for. If we talk specifically about Russia, then at the moment (2020), fraud means taking possession of someone else's property by deception or through abuse of trust.

Depending on the amount of damage caused, different punishments may be applied to fraudsters (including online stores that deceive customers) (in accordance with Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation):

A fine of up to 120,000 rubles or restriction of freedom for up to two years is provided for illegal acts that have resulted in any damage. By decision of the judge, the offender may be sentenced to correctional or compulsory labor.

The fine becomes larger (up to 300,000 rubles) if there were several perpetrators and there was collusion or the victim suffered significant financial damage. Plus, instead of a restriction, imprisonment is applied (term - up to five years).

Punishment is being made even tougher for criminals in management positions or if the amount of damage exceeds 50,000 rubles (this also applies to online stores that deceive customers). Currently, such cases are subject to a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 rubles and imprisonment (up to six years). Alternative punishments may be applied by decision of the judge.

For members of pre-formed criminal gangs (engaged in fraud), the law prescribes a fine of 1 million rubles (each) and restriction of freedom (up to two years). If the victim loses their home as a result, the fine for the fraudsters is from 1 million rubles.

Strict punishment is also provided for cases where the seller did not even intend to fulfill his obligations or the buyer's material losses exceeded the amount of 3 million rubles. Then the offender faces a fine (from 300,000 rubles) or prison (up to five years).

If the amount of damage caused is more than 3 million rubles, the court may fine the offender (500,000 rubles) or impose a prison sentence (up to six years).

For fraud, as a result of which the injured party suffered damages in the amount of 12 million rubles or more, the punishment is imprisonment (term - up to ten years) and a fine (amount - up to 1 million rubles).

The Criminal Code does not define specific limits of possible damage, that is, regardless of the amount, this is already a crime. At the same time, when online stores deceive buyers, their actions also fall under the articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Thus, only law enforcement agencies, that is, the court or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, determine under which legislation punishment will be imposed for minor offenses.

It should be explained here that the application of a particular legislative act depends on the object of regulation involved in the proceedings. If we are talking about consumer fraud, then the Code of Administrative Offenses comes into force. While the Criminal Code prescribes liability measures for any type of fraud (no matter whether it is sales, provision of services or something else).

According to the law (Article 14.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), a fine of 3,000 to 5,000 rubles (if the amount of damage did not exceed 1,000 rubles) is imposed for undermeasurement, underweight, or false information about a product. If there was fraud or abuse of trust, as a result of which the victim suffered material damage, then the fraudster faces a fine under Article 7.27.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (five times the damage itself, but not less than 5,000 rubles).