VerbRÄG 2026: new duties in online sales

With the Consumer Rights Amendment Act 2026 (BGBl. I No 59/2026), the legislator has modernised the rules for selling to consumers in two stages: the sustainability information duties have applied since 27 September 2026; the provisions on financial services have applied since 1 October 2026, in each case to contracts concluded from those dates.

Financial services move into the FAGG

The previous Distance Financial Services Act expired at the end of 30 September 2026 and now governs only contracts concluded before that date; distance contracts for financial services have since been governed by the Fern- und Auswärtsgeschäfte-Gesetz (FAGG, the Austrian act on distance and off-premises contracts). For providers this means that information duties, withdrawal instructions and contract processes must be migrated to the new framework; verbatim reuse of old templates is not sufficient.

Personalised prices must be disclosed

Anyone personalising prices on the basis of automated decision-making, for instance according to browsing behaviour or a customer profile, must inform consumers before the contract is concluded. In distance selling this duty has applied since July 2022 (§ 4 Abs 1 Z 4a FAGG); since 1 October 2026 it is also part of the information catalogue for financial services. The notice belongs in the ordering process, not in the small print.

Durability, repairability, updates

Since 27 September 2026, information duties on the durability and repairability of goods apply, including information on software updates for digital products. Together with the greenwashing rules passed in parallel, this forms a package that affects product communication and shop copy across the board.

Our recommendation

Online retailers and service providers should review the ordering flow, terms and product pages in one pass: are the withdrawal instructions up to date? Is a personalised-pricing notice in place where it is needed? Is product information on durability and updates prepared? Both dates have passed; anyone who has not yet made the switch catches up on both in one pass.