Part 4: Consumer rights and disputes Prohibition of unfair commercial practices Section 226: Misleading actions
This section defines commercial practices that are misleading actions. The section prohibits traders from using misleading actions in a wide range of circumstances, including the use of misleading information relating to a product, a trader, or any other matter relevant to a transactional decision. A commercial practice can also be a misleading action if its overall presentation is likely to deceive the average consumer. Transactional decision is a broad concept covering both pre-purchase and post-purchasing decisions and includes decisions on whether to do something, or not to do something, there does not need to be an actual transaction between the consumer and trader. For example, it includes decisions on whether to visit a shop, to click through a website, to exercise a cancellation right or to pay a debt as well as a decision to purchase a product or to enter a contract.
	For a commercial practice to be a misleading action, it must meet two conditions: first, the practice matches at least one of the descriptions outlined within subsection (1), and second, it is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not have taken otherwise.
	Subsection (2) and (3) clarify that even if information provided to consumers is factually correct, it can still be misleading as a result of the way it has been presented. For example, if a product has more than one charge, and a trader highlights just one of those charges on their website and provides less conspicuous information about the other charge(s), the information provided may be misleading by creating the impression that the product is cheaper than it really is (see for example C-611/14, Canal Digital Danmark A/S at paragraph 49). A practice like this could also amount to a misleading omission.
	Subsection (4) clarifies that ‘another trader’ refers to a different trader to the trader supplying the marketed product for subsection 1, paragraph (c).
	Subsection (5) clarifies a requirement in a code of conduct relevant for subsection 1, paragraph (d) is a requirement imposed on a trader where compliance can be verified and in relation to which the trader does not have discretion.