The Governmental Commission on Legislative Activities has approved a bill from Rospotrebnadzor prohibiting the automatic consent of passengers to additional services, including insurance, when purchasing airline and railway tickets. This was reported by a source close to the commission.
The essence of the initiative is to amend the law "On Protection of Consumer Rights." According to the draft, sellers, contractors, and aggregator owners will not be able to automatically check boxes for consent to additional services or create conditions that imply the buyer's initial consent.
The explanatory note to the bill states that the problem of imposing additional services for a separate fee is of serious public and social importance. Economic entities often manipulate consumers, creating a threat of negative consequences, such as refusal to conclude the main contract, loss of discounts, or recovery of damages and penalties. This forces consumers to enter into additional contracts on unfavorable terms.
The problem is particularly acute when selling tickets for airplanes and trains through mobile applications or websites. As an analysis of appeals to Rospotrebnadzor and the Bank of Russia showed, companies often automatically add consent to voluntary insurance to the contract, which is recorded as a checked "checkmark."
If the bill is adopted, the innovations will come into force on September 1, 2025.
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