Provision of Specified Continuous Services

The provision of Specified Continuous Services is transactions in which the provision of long-term and continuous services is promised in exchange for the payment of expensive fees.Currently, six services are included such as esthetic salons, language schools, home tutors, cram schools, marriage agencies, and personal computer schools.

for more information please visit Act on Specified Commercial Transactions

Please see here for Q&A about the Provision of Specified Continuous Services

"Specified Continuous Services" means the provision of "Specified Continuous Services"(*) specified by Cabinet Order for a period exceeding a certain period by receiving compensation exceeding a certain amount. This includes the sale of rights to receive the provision of services, which is called the "sale of specified rights." Contracts concluded in stores will be subject to the Specified Commercial Transactions Act if they meet the above conditions.

* "Specified Continuous Services" means services that the recipient is induced to receive through the claim that they will increase the recipient's physical beauty, increase the recipient's knowledge or skills, or cause the recipient to accomplish any other purpose, the nature of which makes it uncertain whether such purposes will be accomplished.

Currently, the following six services are designated as Specified Continuous Services.

Specified Continuous Services	Period	Amount of consideration
So-called esthetic salons Esthetic salons perform treatment to purify or beautify a person's skin, fix the body shape, or the lose weight.	The services that continue for than one month	More than fifty thousand yen for each service
So-called language schools Language schools teach languages (excluding that fall under the teaching for the improvement of academic ability to prepare for school entrance examinations to supplement education in schools other than universities).	The services that continue for more than two months
So-called home tutors Home tutors teach students for the improvement of academic ability to prepare for school entrance examinations (excluding elementary schools and kindergartens) or to supplement school education (excluding universities and kindergartens) (limited to those provided at places other than so-called cram schools).	The services that continue for more than two months
So-called cram schools Cram schools teach students of schools (excluding universities and kindergartens) to improve their academic ability to prepare them for school entrance examinations or to supplement the school education (limited to those provided at an office(s) of a service provider or other places prepared by the service provider for the purpose of the provision of said services).	The services that continue for more than two months
So-called personal computer schools Personal computer schools teach knowledge or techniques pertaining to the electronic computers or word processors.	The services that continue for more than two months
So-called marriage agencies Marriage agencies introduce opposite seeks the person to a person of the opposite sex who seeks to get married.	The services that continue for more than two months

(*1) Teaching in preparation for "competitive entrance examinations" for prestigious elementary schools and kindergartens are not included in "home tutors" and "cram schools."
Services (courses) targeting only Ronin students (meaning students who failed the entrance examinations and are preparing for one next year) do not fall under "cram schools" (courses that target both high school students and Ronin students fall under cram schools as a whole).

(*2) The service will fall under "Specified Continuous Services" if the total amount of the contract money in the name of entrance fee, tuition fee, educational material fee, the sale of related goods, etc., is more than fifty thousand yen.

(*3) Services for which contents are provided via fax, telephone, the Internet, postal mail, etc. also fall under "Specified Continuous Services."

The Specified Commercial Transaction Act does not apply to the following cases, etc.

• Transactions between business operators
• Contract with a person living overseas
• Sales or provision of services by the national or local governments
• Sales or provision of services by a partnership established based on a special law, an employee organization of government employees, or a labor union, to their respective members
• Sales or provisions of services by a business operator to its employees

The Specified Commercial Transactions Act provides that when a business operator concludes a contract for the provision of Specified Continuous Services (sales contract for specified rights), such business operator must deliver the following documents to the consumer.

A. Prior to the conclusion of a contract, a document containing an outline of the contract (outline document) must be delivered.

The Act provides that the following matters must be described in the "outline document."

• Name, address, and telephone number of the provider, and the name of the representative in the case of a juridical person
• Contents of the service
• If there are any goods that must be purchased, the name, type, and amount of such goods
• Estimation of the compensation for the service (selling price of the right) or any other amount that must be paid
• Timing and means of paying the aforementioned amount
• The service period
• Information about cooling-off
• Information about mid-term cancellation
• Information about the right to assert an affirmative defense against credit companies under the Installment Sales Act
• Information about maintenance of the advance payments received
• If there are special provisions, the details of such provisions

B. Upon the conclusion of the contract, a document clarifying the contents of the contract (contract document) must be delivered without delay.

The Act provides that the following matters must be described in the "contract document."

• Contents of the service (right), if there are any goods that must be purchased, the name of the goods
• The amount of the consideration for the service (selling price of the right) and any other amounts that must be paid
• Timing and means of paying the aforementioned amount
• The service period
• Information about cooling-off
• Information about mid-term cancellation
• Name, address, and telephone number of the business operator, and the name of the representative in the case of a juridical person
• Name of the person in charge of the conclusion of the contract
• Date of the conclusion of the contract
• If there are any goods that must be purchased, type and amount of such goods
• Information about the right to assert an affirmative defense against credit companies under the Installment Sales Act
• Availability of a measure for maintenance of advance payment received, and its content
• If there are any goods that must be purchased, the name, address, and telephone number of the business provider who sells such goods, and the name of the representative in the case of a juridical person.
• If there are special provisions, the details of such provisions

TIPS

In addition, a note for consumers to the effect that documents should be carefully read must be written in red and circled with red. The information about cooling-off must also be written in red and circled with red in the contract document. Moreover, the font size on documents needs to be 8 points or more (the font size in the official gazette).

Even if a consumer concluded a contract in the Provision of Specified Continuous Services, the consumer may cancel the contract (including sales contracts for related goods*) (cooling-off) by writing to the business operator within 8 days after receiving the documents specified in laws.

It should be noted that a consumer may execute cooling-off even after the above period has passed for a contract concluded on or after November 11, 2004 if the consumer misunderstood cooling-off, or was overwhelmed so as not to execute cooling-off because of the business operator's misrepresentation or use of intimidation. (The use of certified mail, registered mail, content-certified mail, etc., is recommended for cooling-off in order to avoid future problems.)

TIPS

If the consumer has already received goods or rights at the time of cooling-off, the goods or the rights may be returned to the seller at the seller's expense. Moreover, even if the services were already provided, consumers do not need to pay the consideration for them. Consumers do not need to pay compensation for damages or penalties either, and if the consumer has already paid a consideration such as a deposit, the paid amount will be immediately returned.
However, please note that cooling-off provisions do not apply to the cases where the goods for which the value is almost lost by usage, so-called consumables (e.g., health foods, cosmetics, etc.), have been used.
*"Related goods" means goods specified by Cabinet Order as goods that a consumer needs to purchase when provided with Specified Continuous Services. If a consumer executes cooling-off (or mid-term cancellation) of a Specified Continuous Service Contract,
such consumer can also execute cooling-off (or mid-term cancellation) for its related goods.
Specifically, the following goods are designated as related goods.

For esthetic salons:
・So-called "health foods"
・Cosmetics, soaps (excluding pharmaceutical products), and bath agents
・Underwear and electric facials, depilatory devices

For language schools, home tutors, cram schools:
・Books (including educational materials)
・Audio tapes, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.
・Facsimile devices, videophones

For personal computer schools:
・Electronic computers, word processors, and parts and accessories pertaining to them
・Books, audio tapes, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.

For marriage agencies:
・Pearls, gems, and semi-precious stones
・Rings and other personal accessories