The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Booming online trade: will consumers soon have to pay for their returns themselves?

2020-12-01T13:46:57.370Z


The already booming online trade is being further spurred on by the corona pandemic. However, online orders have many downsides. Now experts are calling for government intervention.


The already booming online trade is being further spurred on by the corona pandemic.

However, online orders have many downsides.

Now experts are calling for government intervention.

Munich - Online trading is booming - but where customers benefit from bargain days and free returns, the environment sometimes suffers.

On Monday, the

Advisory Council on Consumer

Questions

(

SVRV

) particularly criticized the "

problem of

returns in online

retail

" and presented solutions for more sustainable online

retail to

the Federal Ministry of

Consumer Protection (

BMJV).

Council member

Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz

called for "a takeover of responsibility by the economy, politics, but also the consumers themselves".

The Advisory Council suggests, among other things, that consumers should be obliged to assume the costs of “returns of non-defective products” - so far they have often paid nothing at all.

"Almost 60 percent of the companies would like to charge return shipping fees, but refrain from doing so for reasons of competition," explained the independent advisory committee of the BMJV.

The experts referred to a study by the University of

Bamberg

from 2019, according to which a minimum return fee of three euros would lead to 16 percent fewer returns.

Online retail: the downside of the returns boom

"Ordering with a few clicks from the comfort of your home and sending goods back free of charge without much effort is part of everyday consumer life for many more than ever," said Consumer Protection State Secretary

Christian Kastrop in

the

Handelsblatt

on Monday.

But this consumer behavior has "downsides that we have to face when you think of the returns boom, the resulting increase in traffic and the destruction of new goods".

In the opinion of the German Council of Economic Experts, “an open social debate” and more consumer education are needed.

For them it is "almost impossible" to get an overview of the complex national and international requirements, for example for raw material extraction and recycling, "and to find out under what conditions the

products bought

online

are manufactured and transported".

The experts also criticize the fact that sustainability aspects have so far mainly been found in environmental law and hardly in consumer law.

From their point of view, Germany faces the “Herculean task” of combining both areas.

Online trading: experts are calling for resource tax

With a view to the economy, for example, the experts are in favor of a so-called

resource tax

on certain primary raw materials.

They also advocate the controversial introduction of a supply chain law: Legal standards for monitoring human rights and environmental standards along the supply chain also mean “a level playing field and greater legal security for all market participants”.

(

A

FP)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-12-01

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.