EU Commission warns Temu to fix consumer protection violations

The European Fee has warned Chinese language retail large Temu to repair misleading industrial practices or face potential fines in a report following a probe by the Shopper Safety Cooperation Community, led by Belgium, Germany, and Eire. 

The report finds that Temu engages in laborious promoting by providing bogus reductions and hyped critiques. The corporate points deceptive data, together with exaggerating the provision of things and fostering gross sales urgency with deadlines, it discovered. Authorities pressured that Temu fails to correctly inform customers of their proper to return merchandise and doesn’t present clear contact particulars for complaints. 

Moreover, client authorities criticised Temu’s use of a “spin the fortune wheel” sport, the place no clear data is given concerning the circumstances or rewards. 

Temu has been given one month to reply to the Fee and description the way it plans to right these practices. If the response is unsatisfactory, the corporate might face substantial fines. “It is extremely constructive to see two units of enforcement authorities working collectively to deal with Temu’s failings. If Temu doesn’t comply instantly, authorities are going to have to indicate their enamel and begin imposing massive fines,” stated Agustín Reyna, director-general of the European client organisation BEUC. 

“This determination piles but extra stress on Temu to adjust to the legislation. It’s unacceptable that Temu sends a tsunami of merchandise to the EU, which clearly embrace unsafe toys or electrical items, and in full disregard of each client legislation and the current Digital Companies Act,” Reyna added,

This investigation runs parallel to formal DSA proceedings introduced final week, which relate to comparable alleged dangerous practices by Temu, and the addictive nature of its platform. 

Temu attracts round 45 million guests every month throughout the EU.