The regulation, which includes an increase in the penalties for exorbitant price increases and stockpiling, was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force.
The Law on Amendments to the Turkish Commercial Code and Certain Laws was adopted by the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on May 23.
With the law, which also includes increasing the penalties for exorbitant price increases and stockpiling, amendments were made to the Law on the Regulation of Retail Trade. Accordingly, those who violate the provision on the prohibition of exorbitant increase in the sales price of a good or service by producers, suppliers and retail businesses will be imposed an administrative fine from 100 thousand liras to 1 million liras for each violation.
Those who violate the provision that producers, suppliers and retail businesses cannot engage in activities that create shortages in the market, disrupt market balance and free competition, and prevent consumers from accessing goods, will be fined from 1 million liras to 12 million liras for each violation.
The Ministry of Trade will be authorized to close the workplaces of manufacturers, suppliers and retail businesses that violate this provision at least 3 times in a calendar year and impose administrative fines for up to 6 days.
After-sales service
The title “penalty provisions” in the Law on Consumer Protection was changed to “sanction provisions”.
With the Law, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of 2 thousand 200 liras for each transaction or contract determined to be contrary to those who do not deliver or install the goods in due time, and an administrative fine of not less than 2 thousand 200 liras for each transaction or contract determined to be contrary to those who avoid the sale of goods and services, up to 10 percent of the total sales price of the goods or services avoided, including all taxes.
Within the scope of after-sales services, manufacturers and importers will be fined 1 million 115 thousand liras in case of not obtaining an after-sales service qualification certificate, 18 thousand liras for each service station in case of not registering or updating the registration in the system created by the Ministry of Commerce, 18 thousand liras for private service stations that do not use the phrase “private service” in an easily visible and readable manner in all kinds of media and activities, 124 thousand liras for each missing service station for manufacturers and importers who do not provide the minimum number of service stations during the validity period of the after-sales service qualification certificate.
An administrative fine of 2 thousand 200 liras will be imposed on manufacturers, importers or private service stations that act contrary to the obligations for each transaction determined to be contrary. In the event that the violation occurs over the internet, the Advertisement Board may decide to make a notification through the means that can be communicated electronically through the communication tools, domain name, IP address and similar sources on the relevant website to remove the content, and to block access if the content is not removed within 24 hours despite this notification.
The decision to block access will be limited to the content where the violation occurs. However, in cases where it is technically impossible to block access to the content related to the violation or where the violation cannot be prevented by blocking access to the relevant content, a decision to block access to the entire website may be made.
