Part 4: Consumer rights and disputes Prohibition of unfair commercial practices Section 230: Omission of material information from invitation to purchase
This section sets out the conditions under which a commercial practice that is an invitation to purchase omits material information. However, if context makes information apparent, it does not need to be provided by the trader to the consumer as part of the invitation to purchase.
	"Invitation to purchase" is defined in subsection (10). An invitation to purchase can exist in the entire phase before it is possible to make a purchase, not just immediately before entering the contract. The effect of the definition is that a commercial practice can constitute an invitation to purchase even where the information indicating the price and product’s characteristics is minimal. For example, in the case of C-122/10 Konsumentombudsmannen v Ving Sverige AB, an entry level price was held to be sufficient and only a visual or verbal reference was held to be necessary to describe a product that was available in many versions.
	Following an invitation to purchase, the next step or likely transactional decision taken by the consumer does not necessarily have to be to purchase, and an invitation to purchase does not need to include an actual opportunity or mechanism to enable the consumer to purchase the product (nor does such an opportunity need to appear in close proximity to the communication).
	Subsection (2) lists the categories of information considered to be material when a commercial practice is an invitation to purchase. It specifies that the total price of the product must be presented to consumers when there is an invitation to purchase and requires that where there are mandatory fees associated with a product that are not fixed and therefore cannot be pre-calculated, for example delivery fees, information about how these variable fees will be calculated must be provided to consumers.
	Subsection (4) specifies that the total price of the product includes any fees, taxes, charges, or other payments that a consumer must pay to purchase the product.
	Subsection (5) requires that where there are mandatory fees associated with a product that are not fixed and therefore cannot be pre-calculated, the information provided about how these variable fees are to be calculated must enable the consumer to calculate the total price of the product. This information must be set out with as much prominence as the headline price of the product, for example where a headline price is displayed on the webpage, information about the variable fees should not be presented in smaller text at the bottom of the page.
	Subsection (6) outlines what "identity" in relation to a trader means and subsection (7) outlines what the trader’s "business address" means.
	Subsection (8) provides that when considering whether material information has been omitted, account must be taken of any limitation resulting from the means of communication used and steps taken by the trader to overcome those limitations. The means of communication may include for example, apps, webpages, and in-store banners.
	Subsection (9) elaborates on the meaning of omitting information. It clarifies that omitting information includes the provision of material information in an unclear or untimely manner, or in a way that the consumer is unlikely to see, as well as a failure to provide material information at all. The effect is that consideration is required of not only how the words used in the commercial practice may be interpreted by the consumer but also how the information is displayed, for example the font size used, the positioning and colour of text, and whether material information is sufficiently prominent. Examples of material information that a consumer is unlikely to see could include information provided only in the ‘small print’ terms and conditions, or which is only accessible by the consumer if they click on a hyperlink that could be missed or not opened.