Distance selling and online marketplaces: passport information in offers made at a distance

Distance selling means offering a battery for sale without the buyer and seller being physically present together, including online sales, telephone sales and catalogue sales. Online marketplaces are platforms that allow sellers to offer batteries to buyers through the platform. The Battery Regulation duties apply to distance sales on the same basis as to physical sales, with additional information and targeting rules from the product rules framework. An offer is treated as targeted at Union end users where the offer is directed at the Union market, by language, currency, delivery options, domain, or other indicators.

A seller outside the Union who targets Union buyers through an online offer is making batteries available in the Union, and the placing and operator duties follow the chain that the offer creates.

What information must a distance offer show?

A distance offer must show the information that allows a buyer to identify the battery and the seller, and to understand the characteristics that the Regulation requires to be shown before purchase. The offer should identify the battery by category, model and, where applicable, capacity and chemistry, should identify the seller by legal name and contact route, and should state where the required labelling, instructions and passport information will be available. The offer must not present a passport claim that the record does not support, must not show a QR code image that does not resolve to the record for the battery offered, and must not use a generic passport image for a specific battery. A listing image of a QR code is not a data carrier, and a buyer who scans a listing image should reach the record for the battery offered, not a demonstration page. Where the listing shows a code, the code should be the code for the battery or batch offered, or the listing should state clearly that the image is illustrative and that the code on the battery delivered is the operative carrier.

How are sellers identified on a marketplace?

Seller identification on a marketplace must allow a buyer and an authority to identify the legal person selling the battery. The marketplace operator and the seller are distinct actors. The marketplace provides the platform, the search, the payment and, in some cases, fulfilment. The seller places or makes available the battery, and bears the operator duties for that act. A listing that shows only a store name, without a legal name and contact route, fails seller identification. A listing that shows the marketplace name as if it were the seller misleads a buyer about who is responsible. The marketplace has its own duties under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and the Digital Services Act framework, including cooperation with authorities, action on illegal or non compliant offers, and traceability of sellers, but marketplace duties do not replace seller duties. Both sets of duties apply, to different actors, for different purposes.

What must happen on delivery?

On delivery, the battery must bear the required marking and labelling, must be accompanied by the required instructions and safety information, and must carry the data carrier that gives access to the passport where Article 77 applies, or to the Article 13 information set where it does not. The delivery parcel must not separate the battery from its information: instructions packed in a separate parcel, a QR code covered by outer packaging without a route to scan on receipt, or a battery delivered without the accompanying information that the offer promised, are all delivery defects. The buyer should be able to scan the code on receipt, reach the correct record, and verify identity before use. A seller who delivers a battery whose code does not resolve, or whose marking does not match the listing, should treat the delivery as defective and should correct it through the chain, rather than asking the buyer to accept the battery on the basis of the listing alone.

How are non compliant offers handled?

A non compliant offer, such as an offer for a battery without required labelling, without seller identification, or with a misleading passport claim, should be removed or corrected promptly once the seller or the marketplace becomes aware of it. Market surveillance authorities can require a marketplace to remove or disable access to an offer, and can require a seller to take corrective action for batteries already supplied. The record consequences of a non compliant offer include a listing history that should be retained, so that batteries supplied through the offer can be traced, and a correction record that shows what was changed and when. A listing corrected silently, without a record, leaves buyers who purchased under the earlier listing without a route to the correction. The table below summarises the distance selling checks.

How are returns handled in distance sales?

Returns in distance sales create a record and identity problem that physical sales rarely create. A battery returned by a buyer may be in a different condition from the battery dispatched, may lack its original packaging or accompanying information, and may have been used, charged or damaged in the interval. The seller and, where applicable, the fulfilment provider must check the returned battery against the identifier and the dispatch record, must assess condition, and must decide whether the battery can be resupplied, must be repaired, must be assessed for a new use, or must be treated as waste. A returned battery must never be resupplied as new stock without that check, and must never be mixed with new stock where identity cannot be established. The return record should state the date of return, the identifier, the condition found, and the decision taken, so that a later sale of the same battery carries a history that explains the return.

What limits apply to online claims?

An online listing is a commercial communication. Claims in the listing about sustainability, carbon, recycled content, safety or passport status are subject to the same substantiation discipline as claims in a record, and to consumer protection rules including Directive (EU) 2024/825. A listing must not claim a passport where no passport is required, must not claim a carbon figure without scope and method, and must not claim that a battery is safe or compliant on the basis of a listing image. This guide gives general educational information only and does not give legal advice for a particular seller, marketplace or offer.