Companies will soon be obliged by law to inform customers that their contract is being tacitly renewed

“Consumers often feel cheated when they realise too late that a subscription has been tacitly renewed. This is especially the case when it is subscription they no longer require, for example membership of a gym or a subscription to an app requiring a monthly payment”.

“You see money being transferred from your account every month to pay for something that you don’t need. In future, companies will have to notify their customers when their subscription is going to be renewed. This will give customers time to cancel their subscription if it is no longer required”, Mr Beenders said.

Belgium is the first country in Europe to require companies to inform customers when a tacit contract renewal is imminent. The Federal Government says that this is an important step towards providing maximum protection to consumers and purchasing power. 

Once the new measure becomes law companies that tacitly renew customer contracts will be required to inform their customers in “a clear, understandable and unambiguous way” that their contract is about to be renewed and provide them with the opportunity to ask for the contract to be terminated. This must be done at least 15 days prior to the final date on which the customer can object to the renewal of the contract. The information may be sent to the customer by letter, email or text message.

The new measure was approved at the latest meeting of the Federal Cabinet and will come into force 12 months after its publication in the State Journal. During these 12 months companies will have time to adapt to their internal processes, systems and communication practices to comply with the new law.