Business websites face €375,000 legal-notice fines; 3-click exit rules restated

A professional website must let visitors readily identify the business behind it and its hostService Public: that identifying block is the mentions légales, which may sit inside the conditions générales de vente (CGV) or on a dedicated page. The table now distinguishes legal entities from individualsService Public: a company states its dénomination sociale, legal form, share capital, registered-office address, email and telephone, while an entrepreneur individuel states name plus the words entrepreneur individuel or the initials EI with domiciliation address, email and telephone. Both state the host's name or corporate name, address and telephone, and the individual EU VAT identification number where applicable.

The registration number to show depends on the activityService Public: a commercial activity shows the Registre du commerce et des sociétés (RCS) number and/or the Registre national des entreprises (RNE) numberService Public; artisanal, liberal and agricultural activities show the RNE number. Sites editing an online public-communication service must also name the directeur de la publication and, where relevant, the head of the editorial teamService Public. A regulated activity must name and give the address of the licensing authority — the Conseil national des activités privées de sécurité (CNAPS) for private security, the competent Dreal for road haulage — and a regulated profession must display the professional title, the applicable professional rules, the Member State that awarded the title and the ordre or professional body of registration, such as the Ordre des architectes. Failing this information duty carries a €375,000 fine for a sociétéService Public and €75,000 for an entreprise individuelle, micro-entrepreneur or notService Public, under articles 1-1 and 1-2 of the loi n° 2004-575 du 21 juin 2004 pour la confiance dans l'économie numériqueService Public.

Sites selling online must display consumer CGVService Public covering characteristics, price including tax, delivery, payment, withdrawal, guarantees and termination; missing CGV draws a €15,000 fineService Public. Between professionals CGV are optional but must be produced on requestService Public, and refusal draws €75,000Service Public.

Since 1 June 2023Service Public, any trader offering subscriptions online must provide a free online cancellation featureService Public — résilier votre contrat or an unambiguous equivalent, in legible characters, directly and easily accessible from the site or app — even where the original contract was not concluded electronicallyService Public. The feature must show the applicable termination terms including any notice period, termination fee or consequences; collect or confirm the consumer's name, contact address, prior client or contract reference, desired termination date and, for electronic communications, the line number; allow a motif légitime with supporting evidence to be sent online or to a stated email and postal address; then show a summary page for checking and correcting before the consumer triggers the notification de la résiliation function. The trader confirms receipt and then states, on a durable medium within a reasonable time, the effects of termination and the date the contract ends. No personal space may be imposed at notification stageService Public, though an existing one may be reused. The page presents the missing-feature fine as €75,000 for a natural personService Public and €375,000 for a legal personService Public, citing articles L. 215-1-1 and L. 242-16 with articles D. 215-1 to D. 215-3; the Code de la consommation in force sets the online-cancellation fine at article L. 241-3-1Legifrance at no more than €15,000 for a natural personLegifrance and €75,000 for a legal personLegifrance, while L. 242-16 punishes telephone-canvassing breaches.

Legal basis: loi n° 2004-575 du 21 juin 2004, articles 1-1, 1-2, 6 and 19; Code de la consommation, articles L. 111-1, L. 215-1-1 and D. 215-1 to D. 215-3 for the cancellation feature with its fine at L. 241-3-1, and article L. 441-1 of the Code de commerce.