In the statement made by the Ministry, the details of the ‘Regulation Amending the Regulation on Distance Contracts’ published in the Official Gazette were conveyed. In the statement; It was stated that the fast and easy shopping opportunities brought by e-commerce led to an increasing share of conventional commerce, and this situation increased the weight and importance of distance contracts that consumers are party to in electronic commerce. It was also stated that regulation changes were made in order to establish an effective consumer protection system against new sales and marketing techniques related to distance contracts and to ensure compliance with EU directives.
RETURN TIME EXTENDED TO 14 DAYS
In the statement where the changes were recorded, “In relation to the distance contracts established over the platform, additional protection has been brought to our consumers in the exercise of their legal rights by imposing obligations on the intermediary service providers to ensure that consumers can exercise their rights, including refunds in certain cases.
In the use of the right of withdrawal, the return period of the goods has been increased from 10 days to 14 days. In addition, it is aimed to increase sectoral competition and total consumer welfare through the possibility of differentiating the return costs, which is taken into account in the determination of the final sales price as a disguised cost item, on the basis of product and consumer, by regulating liability cases for return costs in accordance with EU directives, and the reductions to be made in final sales prices.
RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL IN SHOPPING WITH CREDIT CARD
Regarding the amendment made regarding the use of the right of withdrawal in installment purchases made with a credit card, “In case the right of withdrawal is exercised in payments made with a credit card, the card issuing institutions can also be added to the usable limit of the card in one go, following the receipt of the amount transferred to them, regarding the mandatory refunds to the consumer within a maximum of 14 days. By making it obligatory for consumers to pay in installments, the obstacle in front of consumers to access financing due to the unfair reduction of their credit limits has been removed.
EXCEPTION ON SOME PRODUCTS
It was stated in the statement that some product groups were exempted from the right of withdrawal:
“For a limited number of standard products, preventing the risk of legal and administrative security for the new owner of the product, for which the right of withdrawal is used after the purchase due to its personalization, especially the use of the product as a crime tool in the context of criminal law, and the unlawful use of it is subject to resale, In order to prevent the waste of scarce country resources, to prevent the negative impact on the foreign trade balance due to the fact that almost all of them are imported, and to reduce the damage to nature and the environment within the scope of the green agreement action plan, to which our country is a party, and to contribute to sustainable consumption and green transformation, the borders of some product groups have been determined. In addition, it has been emphasized that this limited regulation does not prevent the consumer from exercising his optional rights, including the refund of the price of the defective goods, which the Law No. 6502 has granted to the consumer.”
TO BE EFFECTED IN 2024
It was noted that the amendments will enter into force on January 1, 2024 in order to revise commercial contracts between sellers, providers, intermediary service providers and cargo companies, to enable necessary integration in data processing systems, and to inform consumers about their rights and obligations.