Commercial : Students are Consumers.
It is a little known fact that students are consumers, contracts between institutions and their students are subject to the same provisions as any other consumer contract. New rules adopted by the EU Council of Ministers on 10th October 2011, which will come into force over the next 2 years in member states increase the powers of students as consumers.
New provisions in the Consumer Rights Directive include cooling off periods, new rules on debit and credit card charges, unfair contract terms which are prohibited and many other rules which will affect students and in particular, those institutions which offer courses online.
Institutions will have to review their contracts and the way they do business online to ensure that they comply with the new legislation.