Amazon is not required to provide a telephone helpline

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Amazon does not have to provide a helpline phone number to consumers. According to the court, ‘it is necessary to strike the right balance between a high level of consumer protection and the competitiveness of enterprises’, The controversy started after German Federal Union of Consumer Organisations and Associations said Amazon’s German website breached the country’s consumer protection laws by not informing consumers in a clear and comprehensible manner about its telephone and fax numbers. The court said that Amazon is obliged to provide consumers with a means of communication allowing them to contact it quickly and to communicate with it efficiently, but it does not need to be a telephone line.