전자상거래법상 청약철회 효과의 문제점과 개선방안

Abstract

In this paper, a proposal to improve the effect of cancellation in E-Commerce Act(「Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, etc.」) is presented as follows. 1. When a consumer cancels the contract, the business operator must refund the price without delay, and the consumer must return the goods at their own expense within 7 days from the date of receiving the refund. However, exceptionally, if there is a separate agreement that the business operator collects the goods at their own expense and refunds the price at the same time, it shall be followed. 2. When the consumer returns the goods, the risk of return belongs to the business operator. 3. Regarding the return of digital contents after cancellation, the types are divided into regulations. First of all, a digital content provided by streaming does not need to be returned, and a non-replicable digital content stored in the user's online account does not need to be returned. However, in the case where a replicable digital content is stored in the user's online account, if the consumer duplicates it and stores it in another medium, the consumer is obligated to delete the duplicated digital content. A digital content stored in the user's personal storage medium is also obligated by the consumer to delete it. 4. The mail order contract and the credit contract should be regarded as a combined contract, and if the main contract is cancelled, the subsidiary contract should also be considered to be ineffective. 5. When the effect of the credit contract is extinguished with the cancellation, even if the consumer has paid the payment to the credit provider, he only needs to request the return of the unfair profit from him. Therefore, there is no need to consider compensation for damages delayed from mail order distributor. 6. The starting point for a business operator's price refund should be defined as the point at which the consumer's intention to cancel has reached the business operator. 7. If the business operator has not suffered any loss due to the consumer's partial use or consumption before cancellation, the claim for the return of the profits of using cannot be allowed even if the consumer has earned a profit. Therefore, it should be defined as proving that the business operator actually suffered a loss and claiming it to the consumer. 8. Regarding the return of the reduced value, the purpose of each contract must be specified separately. In particular, digital content does not degrade in value due to its nature, so even if consumers have benefited from some use, there is no need to return it.