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The Swiss company Yallo (telecommunication) does not accept written contract terminations (see here). Is this legal according to Swiss contract law?

Since I'm a layman I could only find this article which states that both parties have the right to terminate a contract at any time. However, it does not specify the means by which the termination notice may be/must be transmitted.

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  • An almost identical question has been answered previously on this site, probably under French law (which is probably very similar). If another user or I can locate it, we'll link it here.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 6:09

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Is this legal according to Swiss contract law?

Yes. The lawfulness of terminating a contract expressly or implicitly (see "ausdrückliche oder stillschweigende"), with no further requirements, implies that outlining the specifics to that effect are within the parties' freedom of contract.

A priori, the premise that "Yallo (telecommunication) does not accept written contract terminations" seems inaccurate. The site indicates that chat is a valid method for cancellation. Chats are in writing.

That being said, the matter --at least at the time of this writing-- sounds in misleading practices insofar as the chat functionality is unavailable. Clicking on the page for termination of services issues the message that "because of CyberMonday the hotline is overstrained". Similarly, clicking there on "Chat" leads to another page, so the customer ends up dealing with circular references rather than a chat. As such, the company is in violation of the Bundesgesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb.

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  • Thanks for the quick and clear answer. I should have specified "written" as in a persistent document, afaik the chat is not (necessarily) persistent, making the proof of such an interaction difficult (however, there is the option to email the chat transcript). I'm left wondering what the limitations are that can be set in a contract regarding the termination of said contract. E.g. can the contract state that the contract can only be terminated by calling a hotline that costs CHF 500 per call?
    – Nicholas Brandt
    Commented Dec 3, 2022 at 1:12
  • @NicholasBrandt "afaik the chat is not (necessarily) persistent". Taking a screenshot or sending the chat to "printer" might work, depending on the interface. Also some providers use to email the transcript. "can the contract state that the contract can only be terminated by calling a hotline that costs CHF 500 per call". The parties have wide latitude when it comes to specifying the terms of a contract, although a clause like the one you outline is likely to get stricken as contrary to public policy if the imbalance of parties' bargaining power is significant.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Commented Dec 3, 2022 at 2:02

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