Austria's UWG amended: abusive cease-and-desist letters banned and online financial service pop-ups outlawed
BGBl. I Nr. 58/2026 amends Austria's Federal Unfair Competition Act (UWG): a new § 7a bans bad-faith cease-and-desist letters (Abmahnung) from 27 September 2026, and new Annex item Z 31a, effective the day after publication, classifies repeated pop-up prompts during online distance financial service contracting as an unconditionally aggressive commercial practice.
What changed
New § 7a (Rechtsmissbräuchliche Abmahnung – abusive cease-and-desist letter) enters force on 27 September 2026 and prohibits the misuse of formal legal warning letters as a bad-faith competitive weapon. New Annex item Z 31a takes effect immediately after publication: it is always an aggressive commercial practice to show a consumer repeated pop-up windows demanding a choice they have already made when concluding a remote financial services contract online. § 45 is also updated to reference two new EU Directives: 2024/825/EU on empowering consumers for the green transition and 2023/2673/EU on distance financial services.
Who is affected
Businesses that send or receive competition-law cease-and-desist letters are directly affected by § 7a. Online financial service providers that use pop-up prompts or similar nudge interfaces must comply with Z 31a immediately. Consumers concluding financial service contracts online gain an explicit new statutory protection against such interface manipulation.
What to look out for
Z 31a and the new EU-directive references take effect the day after BGBl. I Nr. 58/2026 is published. § 7a and further Annex changes (items Z 2a, 4a–4c, 10a, 23d–23j and revised Z 29) take effect on 27 September 2026. For three years from that date, civil claims for goods under the newly amended §§ 1, 2 and 7a may only be brought if the goods were placed on the market after 27 September 2026.