Legal draft

Complaints, cancellation and refunds

The ECTA and CPA control schedule for online contracting, renewal, cancellation, refunds and escalation.

Draft v0.2 · customer-segment rules proposed; counsel/checkout pending

Before electronic checkout

The enabled checkout must display complete operator/supplier particulars; service characteristics and limitations; total price including VAT and known costs; payment, activation and term; renewal; record access; security/privacy; cancellation/refund rules; and applicable cooling-off rights.

The customer must be able to review and correct the full order before submission and retain the terms and transaction record. Public preview contains no checkout because these facts and controls are not yet approved.

Cancellation and refund control

  • Use a cancellation method no harder than purchase and stop future renewal after its effective date.
  • Apply ECTA cooling-off rights and service/digital-content exceptions only as counsel confirms for the exact flow and commencement consent.
  • Apply CPA fixed-term, direct-marketing, notice, reasonable-charge and pro-rata refund rules where the customer is covered.
  • Never use a no-refund statement to remove a statutory remedy.
  • Preserve portable export and lawfully retained records after cancellation.

Proposed commercial treatment

Automatic renewal receives a clear reminder and price before renewal: at least 30 days for ordinary business orders and within the statutory 40-to-80-business-day window where CPA section 14 applies. ChainClose will not use the two-month annual notice burden published by some international finance tools; ordinary monthly cancellation remains self-service and no harder than purchase.

Where an eligible electronic consumer has a statutory cooling-off right, the final checkout will state its period and method. A requested immediate start or generated output is not treated as a waiver unless the exact statutory exception and informed consent apply. No change-of-mind refund is promised after fully performed once-off work, but re-performance, pro-rata refund and every non-excludable remedy remain available for an uncured service failure.

Cancellation by product and customer type
OfferingOrdinary ruleMandatory-right override
Free / Readiness ScanStop at any time; no fee or future commitmentData export/deletion and complaint rights remain
Monthly subscriptionCancel future renewal at any time and retain access to period end; no charge after the effective periodWhere CPA fixed-term rights apply, accept 20 business days' recorded notice and refund the unused portion less only a lawful reasonable charge
Annual business orderNon-renewal on at least 30 days' notice; convenience termination and committed fees follow the signed orderA covered consumer/juristic person receives the CPA notice, reasonable-charge and pro-rata protections and the required 40-to-80-business-day expiry notice
Once-off Clean Start / implementationBefore work starts, refund less approved non-cancellable cost; after start, charge only completed/committed work under the orderECTA cooling-off, commencement-consent and defective-service remedies apply where legally available
CASP quote/orderAn expired quote creates no execution; after an approved order is submitted, cancellation depends on the named CASP's disclosed state and termsNo software cancellation wording removes a regulated-partner, consumer or error remedy

Complaint handling

The monitored route will acknowledge a complaint within two business days, assign an owner, preserve evidence, distinguish software, professional, CASP execution, privacy and consumer issues, and target a reasoned final response within 15 business days unless the applicable regulated route requires sooner or investigation reasonably requires an explained extension. A complaint cannot be suppressed by confidentiality language.

  • Software and billing complaints: ChainClose owner and escalation.
  • Execution, KYB, safeguarding or settlement: named authorised-CASP owner and handoff evidence.
  • Privacy/PAIA: Information Officer and Information Regulator routes.
  • Consumer or financial conduct: the applicable commission, ombud, regulator or court route without limiting mandatory rights.

Official sources

External references used for the factual and regulatory context on this page.