In two recent decisions, the German Higher Regional Courts (Oberlandesgerichte – OLG) of Cologne and Munich have clarified the – strict – German requirements for cancellation buttons on websites of tech companies providing digital services to consumers, such as telecommunications services or pay-TV/streaming services.

Background: Cancellation Button

The German legislator introduced requirements for a “cancellation button” in Sec. 312k (2) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – BGB) with the “Fair Contracts for Consumers Act” in 2021.

Sec. 312k (2) BGB requires companies to have a “cancellation button” on their website where consumers can cancel their long-term contract that was concluded on this website by clicking the cancellation button labelled with “cancel contract here”. Clicking this button must take the consumer directly to a confirmation page with mandatory information as well as a button to “cancel now”. Both, the cancellation buttons and the confirmation page, must be constantly available and immediately and easily accessible on the company’s website.

This requirement is not based on EU law, which led to criticism in the legal literature regarding the legality under EU law as well as the practical applicability specifically for international companies. The court decisions, however, focused on the practical implementation of these requirements on the companies’ websites.

OLG Cologne: Cancellation of Telecommunications Contract

In OLG Cologne’s case (decision of 10 January 2025, case number 6 U 62/24), a telecommunication services provider had a multi-step cancellation journey on its website: After clicking the “cancel contract here”-button, users were required to answer several questions (such as contract type, payment method, specific contractual options) before the final cancellation button became visible.

The court held this multi-step process to be non-compliant with Sec. 312k BGB. Clicking the “cancel contract here”-button must “directly” lead to the confirmation page with the “cancel now”-button while the buttons must be presented in a manner that is constantly available, directly and easily accessible.

OLG Cologne rejected the argument that requesting additional user input before showing the “cancel now”-button was user-friendly or necessary for contract identification. Even if certain information may ultimately be required to process the cancellation, “hiding” the “cancel now”-button behind successive queries undermines the legal structure, which envisions a simple two-step process, according to the court.

OLG Munich: Cancellation of Pay-TV Contract

In OLG Munich’s case (decision of 20 March 2025, case number 6 U 4336/23 e), a pay-TV provider’s website design in relation to the cancellation button was subject of the dispute.

The website had a button labeled “show more links” at the bottom of the screen. This button was designed with gray writing on a white background. After clicking on this button, more links appeared (58 in total) including the cancellation button in smaller and gray writing. Other parts of the website were more colorful, including some pictures as well as a blue “order now”-button.

The court held the process to be non-compliant with Sec. 312k BGB insofar as the “cancel contract here”-button was not immediately and easily accessible. OLG Munich argued that the average consumer was not able to find the cancellation button without considerable effort for two reasons: (1) the consumer didn’t expect the cancellation button behind a “show more links”-button and (2) the cancellation button was hard to find among the large number of other links.

However, the court also clarified that differences in visual styling (such as font size or color) between the cancellation button and other website interface elements do not necessarily violate the requirement for readability, provided the cancellation button is still legible in isolation. More specifically, the cancellation button doesn’t need to look the same as the order button. Such high requirements would disproportionately restrict the freedom of the company to design its website without sufficient grounds for this being found in the wording of the law.

This suggests that while courts are increasingly strict about the structural flow and visibility of cancellation options, some design flexibility remains regarding aesthetic presentation — an important nuance for providers aiming to comply without compromising branding or UX coherence.

Side Note: Product Information Sheets

OLG Cologne’s decision also tackled another web design issue for telecommunications services providers, namely the placement of product information sheets.

The German Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz – TKG) transposes the European Electronic Communications Code (Directive (EU) 2018/1972 – EECC) into German law. But it does not only have the EU-mandated “contract summary” requirement (in Sec. 54 TKG transposing Art. 102 (3) EECC), it has an additional requirement for “product information sheets” based on Sec. 52 TKG and detailed in the German Telecommunications Transparency Ordinance (TK-Transparenzverordnung – TKTransparenzV).

The difference is that the product information sheet is a general instrument of market transparency with pre-contractual information for the offered services, while the contract summary contains the specific, customized contract offer for the consumer.

According to Sec. 2 TKTransparenzV, product information sheets must be provided in an easily accessible form. This is where OLG Cologne comes in. In this case, the telecommunications services provider had an overview over its contracts and prices on the landing page of its website. The rates also contained a circled asterisk symbol (*) which – upon click – led to further information on the individual rates on detailed product pages. The product information sheets where only linked on the detailed product pages but not on the overview page.

According to OLG Cologne, the product information sheets must be directly linked on the overview page as this is the typically the first point of consumer engagement. The “asterix text” and detailed product pages are not sufficient to comply with the “easily accessible” requirement.

However, the court also acknowledged that there is other, secondary information that doesn’t need to be included on the overview page. In that case, OLG Cologne expressly mentioned missing information on the costs of an MMS, for additional data volume, the 5G option as well as for dialing special numbers. These data points are only considered of secondary relevance for the court compared to the main information on the telephone and SMS flat rate, the monthly prices as well as the product information sheets which need to be available on the overview page.

Practical Implications

These judgments reflect a low tolerance for friction in digital consumer journeys and continue a broader enforcement trend, where courts are placing formal design obligations above functional equivalence or internal process justifications.

For providers of digital services for German customers, this means:

• The „cancel contract here“-button must be available at all times and be immediately and easily accessible and must not be “hidden” behind a “show more links”-button or between a large number of other links.
• Clicking this button must directly lead to a confirmation page with a “cancel now”-button that is also immediately and easily accessible and must not be “hidden” behind a multi-step process.
• Design choices (e.g. button styling) must not impede discoverability and legibility but need not be identical across other website functions.

Specifically for telecommunications services providers:

• The (general) consumer protection requirements for cancellations (such as in Sec. 312k BGB) are applicable in addition to the sector-specific special requirements (such as in Sec. 57 TKG).
• The required product information sheets must be made accessible from the main overview page – not only at later stages of the customer journey such as detailed product pages. Templates for product information sheets are provided on the website of the German telecommunications regulator, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur – BNetzA).

EU Outlook

Comparable requirements might also become more relevant in other EU member states. With the Directive (EU) 2023/2673 the EU adopted a similar concept as the German cancellation button and requiring a “withdrawal function” on online interfaces. This will apply specifically to digital contracts for financial services, but it reflects a broader EU trend toward harmonized interface obligations for consumer-facing platforms as demonstrated in the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 – DSA).

The new withdrawal function for financial services contracts shall be labelled with the words “withdraw from contract here” in an easily legible way. It shall be continuously available throughout the withdrawal period, prominently displayed on the online interface and easily accessible to the consumer. These new requirements need to be adopted by the EU member states by 19 December 2025 and applied from 19 June 2026.

Providers operating across the EU should monitor the implementation of the new directive and anticipate similar regulatory expectations beyond Germany – particularly as the line between national and EU-level consumer interface standards continues to blur.