Lithuanian legal acts have been found to refer to direct selling by a number of names: door-to-door selling, selling through an agent, selling away from business premises, etc. It is utmost important to distinguish between the different concepts, and consider the relevant legal regulatory provisions as appropriate.
In respect of direct selling Lithuanian legal acts provide for the general and the special legal regulatory framework. The general regulatory framework implies that companies and their products of the type are subject to the entirety of regulations concerning retail trade, consumer rights protection, refund and replacement of goods, product safety, advertising promotion and other requirements of general nature. Special regulation is based on the special provisions governing trading in premises not intended for trading (selling away from business premises) and the enhanced assurance of consumer rights in such relations.
General regulation of consumer rights
In Lithuania consumer rights are established by the provisions of Articles 6.188, 6.350 – 6.370 and other Articles of the Civil Code and the Law on Protection on Consumer Rights of the Republic of Lithuania. It should be noted that according to the relevant legal provisions in consumer purchase-sale contracts sellers are prohibited from offering the buyer entitlement to a gift or other supplement to the product, receivable immediately or within a certain time period after the conclusion of the contract, except for advertising samples, or promising entitlement to the purchase of accessories to the things, attempting to exert influence on the buyers by offering things or services, demonstrating allegedly reduced priced and perform other actions as specified in the legal acts.
Consumer purchase-sale contracts: sales away form business premises
According to Article 6.357 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania purchase-sale contracts concluded away from business premises (at the place of residence of the consumer, his job or study premises) are attributed to consumer contracts, meaning that such contracts are subjected to the enhanced standards regarding the communication of the seller with the buyer.
It is not in all cases that the contracts concluded by direct selling agents with consumers are considered to represent “trading in premises not intended for trading” (sales away from business premises) within the meaning defined in the Civil Code. Excluded from the concept scope shall be the contracts (in the presence of any of those):
- for the purchase or delivery of food products or other things intended for everyday use;
- for purchase-sale or supply of services, where the seller or service supplier arrives upon an express order given by the consumer;
- for the purchase-sale of things or supply of services where under the contract the customer is charged LTL 200 or less;
- other contracts (that are seldom relevant for direct selling).
Therefore, provided the circumstances defined above are present, a contract shall be considered to be straightforward consumer purchase-sale agreement (according to Articles 6.350 – 6.370 of the Civil Code). In this context it should borne in mind that the assignment of this type of contracts to consumer contracts automatically implies that the product is being acquired for personal, family or household needs (Article 6.350 of the Civil Code).
Where a contract being concluded complies with the criteria for trading in the premises not intended fo trading the seller is subject to an additional obligation to hand in to the buyer a document indicating the following information as required by the law:
- the date of delivery of the thing to the consumer;
- the name of the thing;
- the price of the thing, inclusive of all taxes and charges;
- the seller’s name and address;
- the name (name, surname) and address of the person to whom the consumer may address the notice on the termination of the contract, and at which the customer may replace or refund the item;
- the consumer‘s right to terminate the contract.
Frequently the functions of such document may per performed by other documents (product documents, invoice issued, item warranty documents or others) provided the document contains the information specified above. The seller shall bear the burden of proof that the document concerned had been delivered to the buyer. A number of solutions are possible in order to obtain the relevant evidence: the consumer is handed in for signature a confirmation on familiarisation, or the performance of required actions is confirmed by the consumer’s signature on the goods transfer-acceptance statement, etc.
Where a contract concluded meets the criteria of trading in the premises not intended for trading (selling away from business premises) the buyer (consumer) is entitled to enjoy additional possibilities to terminate the contract. The consumer shall have the right to terminate the contract within 7 days from the receipt of the document referred to above (where the document has not been delivered – within 3 months from the date of the conclusion of the contract) – provided the item has not been damaged or no material changes have been effected to its appearance (this requirement does not include changes caused by unpacking the item or its regular inspection). Where the consumer terminates the contract the buyer shall within 15 days collect the item from the buyer and refund to the buyer the moneys paid for it. Any agreements between the buyer and the seller that may possibly aggravate the consumer rights as specified above shall be void.
