Amazon found itself in the dock after the German Federal Union of Consumer Organisations and Associations said its German website breached the country’s consumer protection laws by not informing consumers in a clear and comprehensible manner about its telephone and fax numbers.Amazon’s automated call-back facility and an online chat service were not sufficient to show that it had lived up to its legal obligation, the federation said.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the arguments.”An e-commerce platform such as Amazon is not obliged in all cases to make a telephone number available to consumers before the conclusion of a contract,” judges said.The court said other factors need to be taken into account apart from consumer rights.”It is necessary …