[co-author: Gabriele Giunta]

On 20 October 2016, the Italian Competition Authority (the “Authority”) fined Telepass of EUR 200,000 for alleged unfair commercial practices. According to the Authority, Telepass would have activated a premium service (premium option extra) to consumers, who activated the simple premium option, without their consent. In particular, Telepass would have adopted a mechanism based on the tacit consent of the consumers, giving them an opt-out option, which consisted in the exercise of the right of withdrawal within 60 days.

The main feature of this decision is the application by the Authority of Article 65 of the Italian Consumers Code. This provision was introduced with Legislative Decree no. 21/2014, implementing Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights. According to Article 65, “before the consumer is bound by the contract or offer, the trader shall seek the express consent of the consumer to any extra payment in addition to the remuneration agreed upon for the trader’s main contractual obligation. If the trader has not obtained the consumer’s express consent but has inferred it by using default options which the consumer is required to reject in order to avoid the additional payment, the consumer shall be entitled to reimbursement of this payment”. The aim of this provision is to ban the use of the opt-out mechanism in favor of the use of the opt-in mechanism. Therefore, the Authority fined Telepass and prohibited the continuation of the alleged conduct.