A responsabilidade civil dos sites comparativos de preços

Abstract

The research seeks to analyze the liability of comparative price websites (eg Buscapé) for the failure to provide service or product made by third party suppliers through recurrent cases in the case law, taking into account the concept of supplier and chain of supply and in what form it applies or not to these new forms of provision of services over the internet, as well as solidarity between them. Such inquiries were gathered from the observation of Brazilian jurisprudence and the great divergence of the judges, in addition, it is a new subject that does not fit easily into the concepts of the Code of Consumer Protection. The research was done using doctrines and jurisprudence, the judgments involve the Buscapé, consumers and third party supplier in a hypothesis, not delivery of the product purchased by the consumer through the third supplier indicated by the comparative price website. The results point to two distinct lines of reasoning, the first one to understand that there will be joint responsibility for the comparative price website if it gives a legitimate sense of confidence and security to the consumer. The second line understands that there is no accountability for lack of intermediation to the business carried out with third parties, and the role of the comparative price site is antecedent to the purchase, as a mere indicator. The answer that is reached, and which we adhere to is that, in cases where the technique of Cost Per Click and sponsored ads is present, the comparative price website indirectly participates in the legal relationship between the consumer and the third party advertiser, given that it will indirectly receive from the consumer the sale (through the pass-through to the value of the product by the third-party advertiser), having the opportunity to choose the supplier, being present in the supply chain and therefore responding jointly.