Right of withdrawal online — a withdrawal function is required from 19 June 2026

What does the law say?

The Swedish Distance Contracts Act gives consumers a 14-day right of withdrawal for most distance purchases — that has applied for years. The seller must also inform the customer about the right before the purchase: how long it lasts, how to use it and what is exempt. Deficient information can extend the withdrawal period considerably.

The new part comes from an EU directive (2023/2673) amending the Consumer Rights Directive: contracts concluded through a website or app must also be cancellable through it. The site must provide a clearly labelled withdrawal function — in practice a button or link along the lines of "Withdraw from your purchase" — that is easy to find and available throughout the withdrawal period. When the customer uses it, they must receive a confirmation that the withdrawal was received. In Swedish law the requirement is introduced in the Distance Contracts Act and applies from 19 June 2026.

The idea is simple: cancelling a purchase should be as easy as making it. A purchase made in two clicks should not require a letter, a phone call or a paper form to undo.

Who is covered?

The requirement applies to businesses concluding contracts with consumers through a website or app — e-commerce, subscription services, bookings and digital services sold online. Pure B2B sales are not covered, nor are purchases with no right of withdrawal at all, such as custom-made goods or certain perishable foods.

Note, however: the exemptions apply per purchase, not per website. If you sell both goods with and without a right of withdrawal, the function must exist for the purchases where the right applies.

Common issues we see

• The right of withdrawal is only described in the terms of purchase — often correctly, but there is no function on the site where the customer can actually withdraw.
• Customers are referred to emailing or calling support. Fine as a complement, but it does not satisfy the function requirement from 19 June 2026.
• A withdrawal form exists as a PDF to print and post — far from "as easy as buying".
• The withdrawal information is outdated or incomplete, for example missing how the period is counted or which exemptions apply.

How CompliantHQ tests this

On websites selling to consumers, the scanner looks for a withdrawal function — a clear entry point where the customer can cancel a purchase directly on the site. If it is missing we flag it, already now ahead of 19 June 2026, so you can fix it in advance instead of discovering the requirement once it applies.

In parallel, our compliance AI reads the terms of purchase and reviews that the withdrawal information is correct and complete — the length of the period, how it is exercised and the exemptions.

How to fix it

• Create a clearly labelled withdrawal function — for example "Withdraw from your purchase" — that is easy to find: in the footer, on the account pages and in the order confirmation.
• Let the function lead to a simple form where the customer identifies the purchase and confirms the withdrawal — without forcing a login if the purchase was made as a guest.
• Send the customer a confirmation that the withdrawal was received, for example by email.
• Update the terms of purchase so they describe both the right of withdrawal and the new function correctly.
• If you use an e-commerce platform: check whether it has shipped support for the withdrawal function, and enable it.

Common questions

More deep dives

• Privacy policy contents
• The cookie policy
• Consent in forms
• The accessibility statement
• Terms of purchase
• Encrypted forms
• The data protection officer
• Policy in Swedish
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