How the consumers can be protected in case of contracts signed remotely in terms of the OUG provisions no . 34 / 2014

The article is written in the spirit of presenting the benefits offered to the consumers, parties of remote contracts, following the harmonization of the consumer protection national legislation with the European standards. The Ordinance no. 34/2014 is the one transposing internally the Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, on the consumer rights, published in the European Union Official Journal, series L, no. 304 of 22.11.2011. The OUG no. 34/2014 revokes the OG no. 130/2000 on the remote contracts and creates a coherent framework designed to regulate certain aspects of the relationship between the consumers and the professionals when signing this type of contract and is aimed at protecting the consumers' rights.

direct internal application, in order to build a unified legislative framework.We welcome the creation receptivity of a common framework, resulting in the Romanian citizens benefiting from the high European standards in almost all the social areas.
Unlike the regulations that have direct effects on the national level, the directive is a document destined for the Member States and it must be transposed by these into their national legislations (Von Bar,C., Clive, E., Schulte Nolke, 2009).However, in certain cases, the Justice Court recognizes them a direct effect in order to protect the rights of individuals.Thus, the Court has established in its case law that a directive has a direct effect if its provisions are unconditional and sufficiently clear and precise (decision of 4 December 1974, Van Duyn)3 .The directives are a harmonization tool of the member states legislations 4 .
In its current drafting, OUG no.34/2014, the normative document which transposes internally the Directive 2011/83/EU on the consumer rights, is the mainstay in the field of remote contracts and contributes to strengthen the confidence in cross-border acquisitions, establishing a common set of minimum rules valid regardless of place, space and time.

What does the remote contract in the acceptance of the OUG 34/2014 mean?
The remote contract is seen as any contract signed between professionals and consumers in some organized remote sales or services systems, without the simultaneous physical presence of the professional and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of remote communication, up to and including the moment of signing the contract5 .We consider remote contracts all those contracts signed by post, phone, fax, internet or any other means of remote communication where the parties do not meet physically.
We note that the recipients of the ordinance are represented by consumers and professionals.
The emergency ordinance gives its own6 definition for professionals -"it can be any individual or company, public or private, acting in his commercial, industrial or production, craft or liberal activity in relation to the contracts that fall within the scope of its application"7 .
A consumer can be any individual or group of individuals constituted in associations as defined by the article 2 point 2 of the Government Ordinance no.21/1992, on the condition to not engage in commercial activities.On the market, the consumer is the weak part in the relation with the professional.In this respect, Prof. Univ.Dr. Dumitru Mazilu believes that "the consumer's governing establishment is more of an optimistic vision, but in practice, often the consumer itself is put into question, being the victim of some misleading and aggressive commercial practices" (2008).www.hrmars.com In principle, OUG no.34/2014, in its accessibility, supports the consumers; they benefit from a wider range of rights, thus from a comprehensive legal and economic protection.
In addition, the ordinance is applicable to any contract between a professional and a consumer, the scope being clearly stated therein8 .In the view of the ordinance provisions, the water, gas, electricity and heat supply contracts also fall under the ordinance, but only when these utilities have as legal basis the contract.The legislation also provides limitations of the scope; we mention in particular the financial services, the gambling, the health services, etc. 9 .
Benefits granted to the consumers by the OUG no.34/2014 First of all, we consider that the main usefulness concerning the remote contracts is distinguished by conducting transactions in a simplified manner, at any time, in any place.Thus the consumer may obtain goods or services without having to travel to the professional's commercial space.

1.
The professional's information obligation One of the legislation pillars on the remote contracts is the general obligation of the professional to inform the consumer about the essential features of the required product/service.Broadly, the information obligation appears in the pre-contractual stage and also remains during the contract execution (Piperea Gheorghe, 2008).
The professional must inform the consumer "clearly and intelligible" on the main features of the good or services, its identity, business address, phone number, fax, e-mail, total price of the goods and services with the taxes included, cost of using the remote communication means, payment methods, delivery date, performance, guarantees, etc. 10 .The information will be clearly, understandable communicated to the consumer, by any means adapted to the used remote communication technique, taking into account the principles of good business practice, of good morals and of "respecting the loyalty principles in the scope of commercial transactions" (Toader Camelia, 2002).
The normative document, by the provisions of the article 6 line 5, allows the change, by agreement of the parties, of the information stipulated in the article 6, line 1 to be provided to the consumer.Considering that the ordinance is intended to ensure a minimum standard of rights granted to the consumer, we believe he can give them up, the professional being able to benefit from a more favorable treatment, with the agreement of the co-contractor, of course.

2.
The consumer's withdrawal right from the contract We want to emphasize the use of the phrase "withdrawal right" and not "unilateral termination of the contract" because the right to withdraw -as additional benefit granted to the consumer -does not have the same legal significance as the right to unilaterally terminate the contract, because it operates on different stages of the legal act, the first on formation, the conclusion of the legal act, and the second on its effects, being a means of termination specific only to indefinite lease contracts.We appreciate, thus', that the consumer's withdrawal right

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
August 2014, Vol. 4, No. 8 ISSN: 2222-6990 299 www.hrmars.comlegally translates in the consumer's possibility to return (retrospectively) on the consent given to concluding the contract 11 .
From a legal perspective, the consumer has a right of withdrawal within 14 calendar days, and it shall be exercised in accordance with the legal provisions of the ordinance 12 .This is a limitation period, equitable withdrawal solution from the contract.
It should be noted that the ordinance revoked OG no.130/2000 provided this term as being shorter, respectively of 10 days 13 ; however, it is ensured a higher standard towards the provisions of the article 6 line 1 of the Directive 97/7/EC granting a term of 7 days.Practically and procedurally, the consumer will notify in writing his intention to waive the products / services, without penalties and without invoking any reason.
We find in the normative document two ways to exercise the withdrawal right: 1. completing by the consumer of the standard form B of the ordinance Appendix, or 2. exposing the intention to withdraw by any other unequivocal statement.
According to the regulations, the withdrawal period will expire within 14 days from: -The conclusion of the contract, in case of contracts for services; - The day on which the consumer or a third party, other than the transporter and indicated by the consumer, acquires physical possession of the products, in case of contracts for sale.We emphasize the case in which the professional omitted the information about the withdrawal right of the order; we have provided a 12 months term flowing after the expiry of the 14 days.Subsequently, if he transmitted the information before the expiry of this term, the 14 days term begins to flow from the receipt of the information 14 .
In terms of costs, the professional must reimburse all the expenses provided in the ordinance related to the products / services, and the customer obviously returns the products.The law requires payment of the direct costs related to the return by the consumer, but there is the possibility of their payment by a professional, if he agreed in advance or if he did not inform the consumer regarding the payment of the direct costs.The failure to deliver the order within the period specified (usually 30 days from signing the contract) draws the possibility of the consumer to terminate or to request the contract to be rescinded.As for expenses, we focus the discussion around the restitution of the necessary expenses, not covering voluptuous costs.In other words, if the consumer opts for a delivery type other than the standard, the professional is not required of the return its cost, but only within the limits of the standard one, but the parties may derogate from this rule.