Purchase of goods or services from another Member State

When you buy goods or services in Romania, before buying the seller must provide you with clear, accurate and easy-to-understand information about those goods or services.

This contractual information refers to:

• the main characteristics of the goods or services;
• the identity of the seller (name, postal address, telephone number, email address);
• the total price of the goods or services, with all taxes included;
• the methods of payment, delivery and execution;
• after-sales services and commercial guarantees;
• the duration of the contract;
• any applicable compensation and the procedure for obtaining it.

If you buy a product or service online, before making the purchase, you must also be provided with information regarding:

• business name and postal address of the seller, telephone number, fax number and email address, if any;
• how the price is calculated and, where applicable, any additional transport, delivery or postage fees, where the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance;
• the period of validity of the offer or prices;
• the cost of using the means of distance communication in order to conclude the contract;
• the right to withdraw from the contract within 14 days;
• the cost of returning the goods in case of withdrawal;
• dispute resolution mechanisms.

If you did not receive any information about the additional costs or costs related to the return of the goods before concluding the contract, then you will not be obliged to pay them.

Purchase confirmation

When you purchase a product or service online you must receive a written confirmation of the transaction. The confirmation must be sent on paper or on another durable medium, such as an email or a message to a personal account on the seller's website.

Digital content

When you buy digital content online, for example when viewing or downloading music and videos, specific information requirements apply.

Before making the purchase you must receive information about:

• exploitation of the content with the relevant hardware/software;
• its functionality, including the application of certain technical protection measures;
• the relevant interoperability of the digital content with the hardware and software components of which the seller is aware or is reasonably expected to be aware.

Financial services

Information you must receive when purchasing a financial service

Pre-contractual information must be visible and easily readable, in the same field of vision, and refer to:

• the borrowing rate, fixed and/or variable, together with information on any costs included in the total cost of the credit;
• the total amount of credit;
• the effective annual interest rate;
• the duration of the credit agreement;
• the total amount payable.

Rules to be followed by financial service providers in contracts:

• contracts must be written in a font size of at least 10, on paper or another durable medium;
• a mention in the contract of the interest, any commission, taxes, tariffs, bank fees or any other costs related to the awarding and performance of the contract;
• a mention in the contract of any early repayment fee.

Contractual clauses that entitle the financial service provider to unilaterally modify the contractual clauses without concluding an additional act, accepted by you, are prohibited.

In the case of an online financial service, before making the purchase, the supplier must also provide you with the following information:

• description of the essential characteristics of the respective financial service;
• the total price you have to pay for the purchase of the financial service, including any commission, fees, additional costs or related expenses and all charges;
• the time limit or date until which the information provided is valid;
• the methods of payment and making the payment;
• any additional costs resulting from the use of distance communication, if such additional costs are charged by the provider.

Payment methods

Payment by card is possible in most EU Member States, whether it be a contract of sale for a product/service concluded verbally or a distance contract (by post, telephone or via the internet).

Your bank must charge you the same fee for payments made in euro across the EU that it applies to equivalent national transactions.

When making a payment in the EU by credit or debit card, sellers and banks cannot charge you additional fees just for using a particular card. This rule applies to all card purchases (in-store or online) made in the country of origin or in another EU country.

Right of access to a payment account with basic features

When applying for or accessing a payment account, consumers resident in the EU must not be discriminated against by credit institutions due to their nationality or place of residence or any other ground, as provided for in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The conditions applicable to holding a payment account with basic features is in no way discriminatory.

In accordance with Law No 258 of 19 December 2017 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features, with subsequent amendments and supplements, all credit institutions offer payment accounts with basic features to consumers in order to guarantee access thereto for all consumers in the national territory and to prevent distortions of competition.

Consumers who, on the application date, do not hold another payment account with any other credit institution in Romania, including a basic payment account, are entitled to open a payment account with basic features, unless the consumer declares that he has received notice that a payment account will be closed.

Consumers legally resident in the European Union, including consumers with no fixed address and asylum seekers, and consumers who are not granted a residence permit but whose expulsion is impossible for reasons of fact or law, have the right to open and use a payment account with basic features offered by credit institutions located in the territory of Romania.

Facilitation of cross-border account opening for consumers

Where consumers indicates to their payment service provider that they wish to open a payment account with a payment service provider located in another Member State, the payment service provider must provide, on receipt of such a request, the following assistance to the consumer:

• free-of-charge provision of a list of all the currently active standing orders for credit transfers and debtor-driven direct debit mandates, where available, and with available information about recurring incoming credit transfers and creditor-driven direct debits executed on the consumer’s payment account in the previous 13 months;
• transfer of any positive balance remaining in the payment account held by the consumer to the payment account opened or held by the consumer with the new payment service provider, provided that the request includes full details allowing the new payment service provider and the consumer’s payment account to be identified;
• closure of the payment account held by the consumer.

Regime for non-residents

Current foreign-exchange and capital operations, as listed in the Nomenclature annexed to Regulation No 4/2005 of the National Bank of Romania on the foreign-exchange regime, as republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, are carried out freely between residents and non-residents, in the foreign currency and the national currency (RON).

Pursuant to Regulation No 4/2005 of the National Bank of Romania on the foreign-exchange regime, as republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, the regime applicable to non-residents provides that:

• non-residents are entitled to acquire, hold and use financial assets in foreign currency and national currency (RON);
• amounts held in the national currency (RON) and in listed foreign currencies by non-residents can be converted on the foreign exchange market;
• non-residents can open and maintain foreign currency and national currency (RON) accounts with credit institutions;
• non-residents can repatriate and transfer the financial assets they hold.

Warranties related to the purchase of goods

Legal conformity warranty

The legal warranty applies to almost all goods, including any tangible movable object, goods with digital elements (e.g., mobile phones), as well as water, gas, or electricity, when sold in a specific volume or quantity.

The legal warranty period is 2 years, regardless of whether you purchase products online, in a store, or by mail order.

For goods with digital elements (smartwatches, smartphones, and smart appliances) the legal warranty may be five years if the goods have an average usage period of more than five years, and the contract provides for the continuous supply of digital content or digital services (for example, periodic system updates or software included in the sales contract). If the continuous supply of digital content or digital services is provided for a period longer than five years, then the warranty will be valid for that period.

For second-hand products, you can agree with the seller on a warranty period of less than 2 years. However, the warranty cannot be less than 1 year.

Commercial warranty

The commercial warranty represents a commitment assumed by the seller or manufacturer, in addition to the legal warranty, by which they undertake to refund the paid price or to replace, repair or maintain the goods in any way, if they do not correspond to the specifications or any other requirement that is not related to conformity.

If the manufacturer offers you a commercial durability warranty for certain goods for a given period of time, they are directly liable to you, for the entire period covered by the durability warranty, for repairing or replacing the goods. The manufacturer may offer you more favorable conditions in the commercial durability warranty certificate.

The commercial warranty must be offered to you in writing or on any durable medium. This can be done in the form of the warranty certificate.

For durable goods, the warranty certificate is mandatory, even if no commercial warranty is offered.

The commercial warranty certificate is worded in a simple and intelligible language and contains the following elements:

• a clear statement indicating that the consumer is entitled to corrective measures from the seller, at no cost, in case of non-conformity of the goods and that these corrective measures are not affected by the commercial warranty;
• the name and address of the guarantor;
• the procedure that the consumer must follow to make use of the commercial warranty;
• indication of the goods to which the commercial warranty applies;
• the conditions of the commercial warranty.

Presumption of non-conformity

Until proven otherwise, any problem (non-conformity) of the product arising within 1 year from the time of delivery is considered to have existed when the product was delivered to you.

Seller's liability

The seller is liable to you for any lack of conformity existing at the time the goods were delivered.

In the case of lack of conformity, you have the right to ask the seller to bring the product into conformity by free repair or replacement, price reduction, or contract termination. For any of these corrective measures you may opt even when the non-conformity of the goods is found shortly after delivery, without exceeding 30 calendar days.

Right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal from a contract is valid only for contracts concluded at a distance or outside commercial spaces and can be exercised within a period of 14 calendar days, without the need to justify your decision.

In case of exercising the right of withdrawal the trader must reimburse the amounts paid to you without undue delay, but not later than 14 days from the date you informed them of your decision to withdraw from the contract.

There are a few specific exceptions to the right of withdrawal, for example perishable goods, goods that have not been sealed and which cannot be returned for reasons of heating or hygiene, and service contracts after the service has been fully performed, where you have given your prior consent to start the provision immediately and acknowledged that you have lost your right of withdrawal when the service has been fully performed.

Procedures for resolving consumer disputes and granting compensation

If you have a problem with a trader and it cannot be resolved directly with the trader, you have the following options:

• filing a complaint with the competent authority;
• initiating an alternative dispute resolution procedure.

General procedure for resolving consumer petitions

If you reside in Romania and have a problem with a trader from Romania, you can address the Regional Consumer Protection Commissariats, structures subordinated to the National Authority for Consumer Protection.

The forms by which you can address the National Authority for Consumer Protection structures are:

• notification: form made in writing regarding the lack of conformity of the purchased products/services, without a request for material claims, by which a possible violation of consumer rights and interests is brought to attention.
• complaint: form made in writing regarding the lack of conformity of the purchased products/services or other violations of consumer rights and interests and by which material or other claims are requested.

Cross-border dispute resolution procedure

If you have a problem with a trader from another EU country, from Norway, Iceland, or the United Kingdom, you can contact the European Consumer Centre in your country of residence.

The European Consumer Centres can offer you, free of charge, the following services:

• information about your rights under European and national legislation;
• information about possible ways to resolve your complaint;
• facilitation of amicable settlement with the foreign trader from whom you purchased products or services, directly or online;
• referral any competent body, if an amicable settlement of the dispute could not be reached.

National or European legislation does not contain specific provisions on the conditions under which a car may be rented in one of the Member States.

Although there are no legislative regulations on this service, the rental regime is covered by consumer rights, an area managed by the National Authority for Consumer Protection.

In order to move efficiently inside Romania or the European Union, without buying a car, you can use the "car-sharing" and car rental services, through which you can rent a car, in the short or long term.

In Romania, the rental of a car is done by private companies, each of them having specific rental conditions.

Most car rental companies require certain conditions, such as:

• Presentation of a valid identity document;
• Presentation of a valid driving license. A valid driving license means both the national driving license where the expiry date is greater than or equal to the estimated date of delivery of the vehicle and the international driving license. According to current legislation, the minimum age to drive a car is 18 years;
• Signing a contract / agreement for renting a car that can be concluded online or at the company's headquarters;
• Payment of a rental fe.

The rights of the consumer who rents a car

• Conclusion of a civil liability insurance. According to national law, every vehicle to be rented must be covered by a civil liability insurance, valid in all European Union countries;
• The request of the representative of the rental company, to conclude a report in which to mention the potential damages found;
• Request that the handover-receipt report be signed by the company's representative, this document being able to constitute evidence in case of disputes.