Cancelling an online purchase
Consumer Protection Act · sources read 4 Oct 2026
Before you buy online, the seller must give you the required information and a clear chance to accept, decline or correct errors, then send you a written copy of the agreement. If they did not, you can cancel until 7 days after you receive the copy, and on cancelling the seller must refund what you paid.
- Deadline
- Cancel any time up to 7 days after you receive the copy of the agreement (only if the seller broke the disclosure or confirmation rules).
- Deadline
- Cancel within 30 days of buying if the seller breaks a requirement under section 43 of the Act (the section on prohibited representations).
- Where
- The online seller first; then the appropriate court
Steps
- Check whether the seller sent you a written copy of the agreement after you bought.
- If you have a right to cancel, give the seller notice. Cancellation takes effect when you give it.
- The notice can be spoken or written and sent by any means; writing (email, SMS, in-app message) is easier to prove.
- After cancelling, ask for your refund; the seller must refund any payment you made under the agreement.
- Return the goods or let the seller collect them, as the rules require.
Watch out
- The 7-day cancellation right is linked to the seller's failures, not a general right to cancel because you changed your mind.
- Small purchases below the prescribed amount are not covered by these online rules.
- After you cancel, you must take reasonable care of the goods for the period set in the rules, until they go back to the seller.
- As printed, the Act ties the 7-day right to the disclosure rule for remote agreements (section 38(1)), so the exact grounds can be argued over.
Who this covers
- People who buy through text-based internet communications such as a website or app.
- Before you buy, the seller must give you the required information.
- Right before you buy, the seller must give you an express chance to accept or decline and to correct errors.
- These rules apply only where the total you must pay is above an amount set in regulations.
Official sources (1)
- Consumer Protection Act, 2012 (No. 46 of 2012), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 201 parliament.go.ke · read 4 Oct 2026