By Resolution No 31356 of 5 November 2024, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has adopted the new Regulation on investigation procedures in matters of consumer protection and misleading and comparative advertising, which has replaced the Regulation adopted by Resolution No 25411 of 1 April 2015.
The main innovation is the extension of the behaviors within the scope of the Regulation by including travellers’ rights in package travel contracts, breaches of information requirements on currency conversion fees and a number of prohibitions (from those relating to parasitic activities, the use of automated pricing procedures based on web profiling of the user, unjustified geographical blocks, as well as payment and credit services, up to so-called IBAN discrimination).
The person in charge of the proceedings has also been given additional powers to make anonymous purchases on a sample basis in order to identify possible infringements of the Regulation.
Finally, it has been provided that the notice initiating the investigation should indicate the time limit within which the perpetrators of the alleged infringements may exercise their right to be heard before the Italian Competition Authority.
