When Transparency Is Not Enough: Judicial Reviewability of Automated Billing Decisions in EU Consumer Disputes

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines what EU transparency obligations achieve in consumer disputes arising from automated billing systems. The problem is not a mere lack of information, but the legal usability of the information disclosed. The fundamental question is whether the automated outcome can be tested for contractual conformity, whether the amount claimed can be reconstructed, and whether the resulting decision is open to meaningful judicial scrutiny. Increment structures, rounding methods, unit conversions, and termination-compensation formulas may appear to be no more than technical details. Yet they can directly determine the scope of the debt. At the same time, the logic of these calculations often remains inaccessible to the consumer and may not become fully visible even once litigation has commenced.The paper argues that this opacity should not be treated solely as a matter of data protection or AI regulation. It must also be addressed as a problem of private law, engaging the law of obligations, the control of standard contract terms, and the requirements of effective judicial protection. The difficulty is twofold: whether the automated output reflects the contractual framework, and whether the consumer and the court can meaningfully test how that output was produced. Accordingly, the paper contends that the current EU transparency regime often yields little more than formal disclosure. What is needed instead is a minimum “transparency threshold” that enables both individuals and courts to examine the basis of automated billing outcomes in a way that makes genuine review possible. By addressing the problems of unfair terms control and judicial reviewability in automated decision-making, the article also aims to offer guidance for Turkish law. In this respect, it further seeks to contribute to ongoing debates in Turkish law on automated calculation and billing mechanisms in digital services.