REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN

1. Where a provider of online_intermediation_services decides to restrict or suspend the provision of its online_intermediation_services to a given business_user in relation to individual goods or services offered by that business_user, it shall provide the business_user concerned, prior to or at the time of the restriction or suspension taking effect, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable_medium.

2. Where a provider of online_intermediation_services decides to terminate the provision of the whole of its online_intermediation_services to a given business_user, it shall provide the business_user concerned, at least 30 days prior to the termination taking effect, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable_medium.

3. In the case of restriction, suspension or termination, the provider of online_intermediation_services shall give the business_user the opportunity to clarify the facts and circumstances in the framework of the internal complaint-handling process referred to in Article 11. Where the restriction, suspension or termination is revoked by the provider of online_intermediation_services, it shall reinstate the business_user without undue delay, including providing the business_user with any access to personal or other data, or both, that resulted from its use of the relevant online_intermediation_services prior to the restriction, suspension or termination having taken effect.

4. The notice period in paragraph 2 shall not apply where a provider of online_intermediation_services:

(a)	is subject to a legal or regulatory obligation which requires it to terminate the provision of the whole of its online_intermediation_services to a given business_user in a manner which does not allow it to respect that notice period; or

(b)	exercises a right of termination under an imperative reason pursuant to national law which is in compliance with Union law;

(c)	can demonstrate that the business_user concerned has repeatedly infringed the applicable terms_and_conditions, resulting in the termination of the provision of the whole of the online_intermediation_services in question.

In cases where the notice period in paragraph 2 does not apply, the provider of online_intermediation_services shall provide the business_user concerned, without undue delay, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable_medium.

5. The statement of reasons referred to in paragraphs 1, and 2 and in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 shall contain a reference to the specific facts or circumstances, including contents of third party notifications, that led to the decision of the provider of online_intermediation_services, as well as a reference to the applicable grounds for that decision referred to in point (c) of Article 3(1).

A provider of online_intermediation_services does not have to provide a statement of reasons where it is subject to a legal or regulatory obligation not to provide the specific facts or circumstances or the reference to the applicable ground or grounds, or where a provider of online_intermediation_services can demonstrate that the business_user concerned has repeatedly infringed the applicable terms_and_conditions, resulting in termination of the provision of the whole of the online_intermediation_services in question.

Article 5

Ranking

1. Providers of online_intermediation_services shall set out in their terms_and_conditions the main parameters determining ranking and the reasons for the relative importance of those main parameters as opposed to other parameters.

2. Providers of online_search_engines shall set out the main parameters, which individually or collectively are most significant in determining ranking and the relative importance of those main parameters, by providing an easily and publicly available description, drafted in plain and intelligible language, on the online_search_engines of those providers. They shall keep that description up to date.

3. Where the main parameters include the possibility to influence ranking against any direct or indirect remuneration paid by business_users or corporate_website_users to the respective provider, that provider shall also set out a description of those possibilities and of the effects of such remuneration on ranking in accordance with the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 2.

4. Where a provider of an online_search_engine has altered the ranking order in a specific case or delisted a particular website following a third party notification, the provider shall offer the possibility for the corporate_website_user to inspect the contents of the notification.

5. The descriptions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be sufficient to enable the business_users or corporate_website_users to obtain an adequate understanding of whether, and if so how and to what extent, the ranking mechanism takes account of the following:

(a)	the characteristics of the goods and services offered to consumers through the online_intermediation_services or the online_search_engine;

(b)	the relevance of those characteristics for those consumers;

(c)	as regards online_search_engines, the design characteristics of the website used by corporate_website_users.

6. Providers of online_intermediation_services and providers of online_search_engines shall, when complying with the requirements of this Article, not be required to disclose algorithms or any information that, with reasonable certainty, would result in the enabling of deception of consumers or consumer harm through the manipulation of search results. This Article shall be without prejudice to Directive (EU) 2016/943.

7. To facilitate the compliance of providers of online_intermediation_services and providers of online_search_engines with and the enforcement of the requirements of this Article, the Commission shall accompany the transparency requirements set out in this Article with guidelines.

whereas

(5) The nature of the relationship between providers of online_intermediation_services and business_users might also lead to situations in which business_users often have limited possibilities to seek redress where unilateral actions of the providers of those services lead to a dispute.
In many cases, those providers do not offer accessible and effective internal complaint-handling systems.
Existing alternative out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms can also be ineffective for a variety of reasons, including a lack of specialised mediators and business_users’ fear of retaliation.

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(22) A provider of online_intermediation_services can have legitimate reasons to decide to restrict, suspend or terminate the provision of its services to a given business_user, including by delisting individual goods or services of a given business_user or effectively removing search results.
Short of being suspended, providers of online_intermediation_services can also restrict individual listings of business_users; for example, through their demotion or by negatively affecting a business_user’s appearance (‘dimming’) which can include lowering its ranking.
However, given that such decisions can significantly affect the interests of the business_user concerned, they should be provided, prior to or at the time of the restriction or suspension taking effect, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable_medium.
To minimise the negative impact of such decisions on business_users, providers of online_intermediation_services should also allow an opportunity to clarify the facts that led to that decision in the framework of the internal complaint-handling process, which will help the business_user, where this is possible, to re-establish compliance.
In addition, where the provider of online_intermediation_services revokes the decision to restrict, suspend or terminate, for example because the decision was made in error or the infringement of terms_and_conditions that led to this decision was not committed in bad faith and has been remedied in a satisfactory manner, the provider should reinstate the business_user concerned without undue delay, including providing the business_user with any access to personal or other data, or both, available prior to the decision.

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(23) The termination of the whole of the online_intermediation_services and the related deletion of data provided for the use of, or generated through, the provision of online_intermediation_services represent a loss of essential information which could have a significant impact on business_users and could also impair their ability to properly exercise other rights granted to them by this Regulation.
Therefore, the provider of online_intermediation_services should provide the business_user concerned with a statement of reasons on a durable_medium, at least 30 days before the termination of the provision of the whole of its online_intermediation_services enters into effect.
However, in cases where a legal or regulatory obligation requires a provider of online_intermediation_services to terminate the provision of the whole of its online_intermediation_services to a given business_user, this notice period should not apply.
Equally, the notice period of 30 days should not apply where a provider of online_intermediation_services invokes rights of termination under national law in compliance with Union law which allow immediate termination where, taking into account all the circumstances of the specific case and weighing the interests of both parties, it cannot reasonably be expected to continue the contractual relationship until the agreed end or until the expiry of a notice period.
Finally, the notice period of 30 days should not apply where a provider of online_intermediation_services can demonstrate a repeated infringement of terms_and_conditions.
The various exceptions to the 30-day notice period can in particular arise in connection with illicit or inappropriate content, the safety of a good or service, counterfeiting, fraud, malware, spam, data breaches, other cybersecurity risks or suitability of the good or service to minors.
In order to ensure proportionality, providers of online_intermediation_services should, where reasonable and technically feasible, delist only individual goods or services of a business_user.
Termination of the whole of the online_intermediation_services constitutes the most severe measure.

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keyboard_tab REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN

REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN