- We see that there are companies that circumvent the rules, says Cecilia Tisell, Director General of the Consumer Agency.

For more than a year, agreements that have been concluded by telephone or on the street must be signed by the customer. Despite this, the Swedish Consumer Agency's follow-up shows that it is still possible that telephone sellers enter into oral - and in practice invalid - agreements with consumers.

Consumers are stressed to buy

The amendment to the law also means that contracts must not be signed during ongoing sales calls, but that the consumer should be given time to calmly read through them in writing before making their decision. But in the majority of the reports that the Swedish Consumer Agency has reviewed, the consumer believes that they have entered into agreements during ongoing sales calls, or are stressed to sign with very short reflection time.

- It is unfortunate, because the whole purpose of the law is to counteract a situation where consumers are surprised and find it difficult to defend themselves against the telephone seller, says Cecilia Tisell.

The follow-up that the Swedish Consumer Agency has made is based on a review of notifications of sales of mobile subscriptions that came to the authority in 2019. A major study of the effects of the law change on the market as a whole will be in April.

Minister: new law should be investigated

Already in December, SVT's consumer editorial Plus reported that the telecom advisers saw worrying signs that the change in the law had left particularly vulnerable consumers in an even worse position.

In a written comment, Minister for Civil Affairs Lena Micko (S) announced that the government will now investigate whether the written requirement provides adequate protection for consumers. The decision was made at Thursday's government meeting.

“Consumers should not be fooled by rogue sellers. It was precisely to tighten the protection that the government decided about a year ago to introduce the written requirement. We have since received a few different pictures of how well the requirement works and now that a time has passed, it is good to do a follow-up. ”

Here you can follow Plus review of mobile subscriptions and telephone sales - and tip Plus reporter!