The new European Directive applies to the repair of good purchased by consumers in case of defects occurred outside the seller’s responsibility.
At the moment, the directive includes inside of its scope small and large households appliance such as dishwasher, washing machine, electronic display and smartphones but the European Commission has given itself the possibility of
expanding this list through Delegated Acts.
The directive was born to
encourage consumers to the reparation or regeneration of a product instead of purchasing a brand new one. The consumer may request, before the repair service, the
European repair information module from the producer or repairer.
This document shall contain at least the following information:
- Identity of the repairer (the producer is in fact obliged to make a repair service available, but this service can also be carried out by a third part indicated by the manufacturer itself)
- Contact information
- The item to be repaired and nature of the defect/type of repair service offered
- The price or an estimation of what the maximum price could be
- The estimated time for repair
- Availability of temporary replacement goods
- The place where the consumer delivers the good to be repair
- If applicable the availability of ancillary service such as the dismantling and transport
In this way the consumer can, on the base of these information,
choose which repairer to contact, and the repairer will have met the information obligation as per directives 2011/83/UE and 2006/123/UE.
The manufacturer, as already pointed out, will be
obliged to provide, upon request,
for the reparation of the product unless this is impossible. If no producer in the European boundary is available, the obligation falls on the authorized representatives, the importer or the distributor.
The producer will have, moreover, the
prohibition to design with planned obsolescence and the obligation to maintain
spare parts (unless these are commonly available on the market) for at least the expected lifetime of the product.
Finally, the directive includes the creation of
national’s online platforms for repair services. This platform shall contain information about the repairers (contact information, repair serviced offered) and offer the download of the European repair information module for a specific repairer and service. In this way the consumer will be able to find out about the repair services present in the area or search a specific service according to needs. For repairers, sellers of goods subject to reconditioning and buyers of defective goods at the end of reconditioning, registration on this platform will be voluntary; for consumers the use of the online platform will be free of charge.
For info:Matilde Ceschia
0039 0432 747241
ceschia@catas.com
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