Investigation into Ago
The investigation into the Temu case was conducted by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC), which brings together consumer protection authorities from EU, Norway and Iceland, here under the leadership of Belgium, Germany and Ireland and with the coordination of the EC.
The investigation revealed Temu’s practices violating EU consumer rights. The identified irregularities included: fake discounts giving the impression that a given product is much cheaper when in fact it was at regular price, as well persuading consumers to make purchases among others by convincing them that supplies of the product are limited. Other practices included the so-called forced gamification. Users were forced to play a “wheel of fortune” game to gain access to the platform, but they were not informed about the conditions of play. The investigation also showed that such incidents occur on the platform false opinions about the products offered on the platform.
The inspectors also criticized Him displaying incomplete and incorrect information among others on consumers’ rights to return goods, and hiding their contact details, which means that customers cannot easily contact the platform, e.g. in case of questions or complaints.
The EC gives the Tego platform a month
The European Commission announced on Friday that it had notified Temu about the irregularities detected. The platform now has one month to respond and propose a way to remove the irregularities.
Depending on Togo’s response, the CPC network may start a dialogue with the company. However, if Temu does not respond to the report, the authorities of member states will be able to take appropriate steps, including imposing a fine on the platform.
Last week The Commission initiated formal proceedings against which is intended to help determine whether the activities undertaken by the platform have violated the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), including: regarding the sale of illegal products, the website’s use of potentially addictive services and incorrect algorithms.
From Brussels Jowita Kiwnik Pargana (PAP)
