Consumer protection
Legal dispute over Lidl app: decision in September
Unlock and save discounts: Millions use the “Lidl Plus” app. But: The advantages of shopping are only available in exchange for personal data. Some are not transparent enough.
The legal dispute between consumer advocates and the discounter Lidl around the “Lidl Plus” app should drag on longer. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court announced a decision for September 23 on Tuesday. At the same time, however, the consumer senate made it clear that in this case it sees a fundamental legal question – and therefore the revision to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) will allow. There was no comparison between the Federal Consumer Center (VZBV) and Lidl.
According to previous information from the discounter, more than 100 million customers use the “Lidl Plus” app to benefit from discounts, coupons and actions. The consumer advocates submitted an injunction in April. In her view, Lidl does not indicate sufficiently in the app before the conclusion of the usage contract or in the associated terms of use that consumers pay the app discount with their personal data.
Chamber: Complicated legal situation
The presiding judge, Oliver Mosthaf, said: “We have a fact that is relatively simple, and a legal situation that is quite complicated”. The question is open on the table. You have to decide whether you have to specify a total price, even if it does not consist of money. “And whether you can say in the second place that something is free if it is undisputedly no money, but a different consideration is made available.”
It is undoubtedly a fundamental question, said Mosthaf. He indicated that the BGH could also call the European Court of Justice, since it is about the interpretation of an EU directive.
According to the consumer advocates, it is a pilot procedure. So far, it has not been sufficiently clarified which information obligations exist for digital bonus programs that provide user data in return.
Lidl did not comment on the ongoing procedure. The discounter, based at Heilbronn, has already caught in the past, for example with the advertising for exclusive app discounts. In a comparison with the Baden-Württemberg Consumer Center, the company in April undertook to always state the price in its printed advertising that applies to all customers-and not just for app users.
dpa
Source: Stern
