There have also been concerns over the use of pre-ticked boxes, which can fool customers into taking extras such as insurance.

Further there will be a prohibition of so called pre-ticked boxes causing problems especially in the passenger travel sector.

Also, some older agreements used pre-ticked boxes, so you had to opt out rather than opt in.

“With the new directive, pre-ticked boxes will be banned across the European Union.”

The rules also include a ban on pre-ticked boxes for extras that shoppers may not want or need and that could result in unexpected payment.

Finally, the ban on excessive charges for using certain payment methods and on the use of pre-ticked boxes is excellent news from this directive for consumers.

Consumer NZ - an advocate group for consumers - ran a 'ditch the ticks' as part of its campaign urging Jetstar to end pre-ticked boxes.

Measures to stop companies forcing existing customers to use premium-rate telephone lines and to outlaw the use of pre-ticked boxes for online purchases are also in the pipeline.

There have also been worries about the use of pre-ticked boxes, which forced consumers to opt out of taking insurance, for example, and about the advertising of special offers.

However, the area in which the directive breaks new ground is in consumer rights in e-commerce: prohibition of pre-ticked boxes and full information on all different costs are tools indeed for consumer protection.

You can do nothing about these options, you cannot change your status or delete yourself because in reality you are making a request to be part of a group and these pre-ticked boxes just show what access you've been given.

Over the past two years, the EU has approached airlines and specialized Web sites to tackle "the plague of hidden charges, pre-ticked boxes and nasty surprises in the small print of airline Web sites," Kuneva said.

Article 22 of Directive 2011/83/EU on Consumer Rights outlaws the default selection of additional drip-priced charges such as pre-ticked boxes on websites; this is enacted in the United Kingdom under Regulation 40 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Rules also ban pre-ticked boxes on websites, such as those for additional services - annoying - and also prices have to be absolutely transparent, ie.