THE NEW CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW

The Consumer Protection Law numbered 6502 (in Turkish “Tüketicinin Korunması Hakkında Kanun”, hereinafter, the “Law”) was published in the Official Gazette numbered 28835 and dated 28 November 2013. This new Law shall abrogate and substitute the Law on Protection of Consumers numbered 4077 (currently in force) as of 28 May 2014. The new Law brings substantial arrangements to consumer rights which will require important changes to be made by companies which sell goods or provide services to consumers.

Below you can find the most important headlines about the new Law:

• According to the new Law, “Unfair conditions” in consumer contracts constitute absolute nullity. The Paragraph 1 of the Article 5 defines “unfair condition” as “Any condition included in a consumer contract without negotiating with the consumer and which causes an imbalance between the rights and the responsibilities of the parties arising from the contract, against the consumer in any manner contrary to the principle of the good faith”.
• The new Law’s provisions regarding defected goods foresee that the seller is responsible to duly deliver the goods to the consumer in accordance with the sale contract (Article 9). Furthermore, as per the Article 10 of the Law, the defects that occur within six months as of the delivery of the good are deemed existed at the time of delivery. Additionally, the seller’s liability for the defective movable goods is 2 years, and the seller’s liability for defective real estate properties used for vacation or residential purposes is 5 years, as of the date of delivery. In case of a defect, the consumer is entitled to choose among the rights provided alternatively under the Article 11.
• The Article 13 of the Law defines the defective services, and the provisions thereafter regulate the responsibility of the service provider and the alternative rights of the consumer in case of a defective service.
• The Law sets forth that the commercial advertisements related to goods or services shall accurately reflect the relevant good or service. Any feature which is signified or claimed on the package, label, website or the advertisement but is not present on the good or the service shall constitute a defective good or a defective service.
• In the event that the instructions for safe use are included on the product, written and vocal expressions shall be in Turkish. The manufacturers and importers are responsible for the preparation of the introductory guidelines. On the other hand, the seller shall prove that the said documents have been delivered to the consumer (Article 55).
• As per the Article 56, the obligation to have an approved warranty has been annuled for the manufactured and imported consumer products. However, the manufacturers and the importers will continue to provide warranty to the consumers. Additionnally, the sellers and the providers may undertake the “Optional Warranty” in accordance with the Article 57.
• The Article 80 of the Law prohibits to the pyramid scheme system (in Turkish, “Piramit Satış Sistemi”), which is commonly known as “Chain of Felicity” (in Turkish, “Saadet Zinciri”) among Turkish society. Please note that referral marketing is not deemed as a pyramid scheme system as per the new Law.
• All hidden advertisements and unfair commercial practices are also prohibited as per the Article 61/4 and the Article 62 of the Law.

• The Law provides special provisions for the consumer contracts including but not limited to hire purchase contracts, consumer loan contracts, housing finance contracts, prepaid sale contracts of the residence and distance contracts. (Please note that the internet sales contracts are deemed as distance contracts which are set forth under the Article 48.)

One of the most important amendments regarding the consumer contracts is related to the texts of the contracts and the informative documents. All consumer contracts shall be in written form and the text shall be at least 12 point-font, clean, explicit and legible. Nevertheless, the pre-contract informative documents which include the conditions of the contract shall be sent to the consumer at a reasonably earlier time before the signature of the contract. Furthermore, the new Law sets forth that the terms of the contracts cannot be changed to the detriment of the consumer; all the fees and expenses receivable from the consumer shall be added to the contract, non-contractual amounts cannot be claimed. Additionally, a hard copy of the contract or the informative document shall be delivered to the consumer; otherwise, it must be delivered in a soft copy format with a fixed data storage device.

Another remarkable amendment is that the duration of the right of withdrawal is increased to 14 (fourteen) days from 7 (seven) days (Article 18 for hire purchase contracts, Article 24 for consumer loan contracts, Article 43 for prepaid sale contracts of residence, Article 47/5 for consumer contracts executed outside of the workplace, Article 48/4 for distance contracts, Article 49/5 for distance contracts regarding financial services, Article 50/6 for time share and long term vacation contracts).

We remain at your disposal for any further clarifications you may require.