The evolution of technology has facilitated the development of the so-called collaborative economy. Through collaborative online platforms, which „remove” the borders between states, various services such as short-term housing rental (Airbnb type), urban transport (Uber type), pet-sitting (PetBacker type), and others are provided. In Romania, the activities specific to the collaborative economy are in full development, in the context of the absence of some regulations specific in the matter.
The purpose of the paper is to determine the role of the service provider in electronic contracts concluded through collaborative platforms and to which rules they must be subjected, taking as reference system the service provider with the habitual residence in Romania. It is analysed only the situation of service providers – natural persons, which can be grouped into two categories: a category of persons providing various services on an occasional basis, in leisure time, in order to obtain additional incomes (the so-called prosumers), category which is the basis of the collaborative economy, and the second category, which includes the persons who provide services on a regular basis, on a continuous basis, on their own and aiming at obtaining profit. The distinction between non-professional and professional service providers is difficult to achieve; there are no criteria in the legislation in the field of services for this purpose. The quality of professional or non-professional must therefore be analysed on a case-by-case basis, using the rules of the common law. The legal regime depends on the classification of the service provider into one category or another.
The contracts in the collaborative economy are concluded by means of online collaborative platforms. Those operating in Romania mostly have their headquarters abroad, which awards international character to the contracts concluded. Using the regulations in force, there are analyzed the modalities to determine the law applicable to contracts and the authority competent to solve the disputes, which may arise between the service provider and the platform or between the service provider and their user.
The study captures only a small part of the collaborative economy phenomenon and seeks to clarify some day-to-day situations, which can give rise to some complex legal problems.
