§ 7-2. Administrative fines under the Financial Contracts Act

This section allows the authorities to impose an administrative fine (overtredelsesgebyr) (a financial penalty) in two groups of cases. The first covers breaches of the duty to provide information to consumers in distance selling or in sales away from the service provider's (tjenesteyter) fixed business premises, and breaches of the rules on repayment when the right of withdrawal is used, in two specified provisions. The breach can be intentional or negligent. The second group covers the rules saying that consumers must be offered the option to pay with cash. Here it is also required that the breach is serious or has happened several times. The Ministry may issue regulations (forskrift) on how the fine is calculated.

The rules referred to are specific. The duty to provide information is in § 3-22, which requires that the customer (kunde) receives the contract terms and relevant information in good time before the agreement is entered into. If the agreement is entered into at the customer's request by means of distance communication, the information can be given immediately afterwards. § 3-39 has special rules for offers made in a telephone call: the service provider must state the sales purpose as soon as the call has started. § 3-44 third paragraph requires the service provider to repay what the consumer has paid as soon as possible, and no later than within 30 days, when the right of withdrawal is used after distance selling. § 3-45 first paragraph sets the deadline at 14 days for agreements entered into away from fixed business premises. § 2-1 third paragraph applies to sales premises that regularly sell to consumers: where other payment solutions are available, the consumer must also be offered the option to pay with legal tender.

The reference to the Right of Withdrawal Act § 29 means that the fine is calculated under the rules there, or under regulations issued pursuant to it. That section states that a responsible party can be given an administrative fine for an intentional or negligent breach that is considered serious or has occurred repeatedly. There too, the Ministry may issue regulations on calculating the amount.

The connection with § 7-1 is that the criminal penalty provision covers breaches of the duty to provide information under §§ 3-22 to 3-39 in general. The fine here is narrower: it applies to consumer sales at a distance or away from business premises, and to the repayment rules mentioned.

Example: A service provider sells a financial service (finansiell tjeneste) to a consumer over the phone and does not give the information required by law. The breach can lead to an administrative fine, since it concerns the duty to provide information to consumers in distance selling.