In recent weeks, the Law on Renting of Residential Properties for Tourism Purposes was published, and the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Sale and Presentation of Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages; the Distance Sales Regulation; and the Regulation on the Principles and Rules on Retail Trade were amended in the commercial and trade sector. In addition, the monetary limits for an application to consumer courts and the fines for consumer law violations have been increased.

Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Sale and Presentation of Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages

On 20 September 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry published the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Sale and Presentation of Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages. The amendment has been introduced a number of regulations regarding workplaces that sell tobacco products and/or alcoholic beverages and companies operating in the tobacco products sector. Regulations on the standards of the vehicles of companies operating in the tobacco products sector will enter into force on 20 September 2024; other regulations entered into force on the date of publication of the Regulation.

The Regulation is available here (in Turkish).

The main amendments introduced by the Regulation are as follows:

  • The sale of tobacco products shall not be allowed on the campuses of health, education and training, cultural and sports services where the sale of tobacco products is prohibited. The open areas of these places and the buildings, annexes and gardens where these services are provided will be considered within the boundaries of the campus.
  • Those who apply for a retail sales certificate to operate in places where open alcoholic beverages are sold or in parts of these places that are not completely independent will not be issued with a tobacco product and/or alcoholic beverage retail sales certificate, even if they have a different workplace opening and operation license for a retail sales activity. This prohibition shall not apply to retail outlets operating in accommodation facilities, recreation areas and campsites that have an open alcoholic beverage sales license.
  • In the event that military, gendarmerie, coast guard and police canteens are operated by privateers, the letter of approval to be issued by the competent chief of the military unit or general law enforcement unit to be operated, and the contract made with the administration must be submitted instead of the workplace opening and operation license in the sales certificate application.
  • In case of loss of sales certificates, sales certificate holders can apply for a new sales certificate by submitting a written application without attaching the documents they have previously submitted.
  • On the vehicles belonging to companies operating in the tobacco products sector, trade names and company information can be displayed in black on a white background without using any logo or abbreviation, only on the side surfaces of these vehicles, and at a rate not exceeding 10% of the side surface area.
  • Distribution vehicles used by companies operating in the tobacco products sector must be white.

Law on Renting of Residential Properties for Tourism Purposes

On 2 November 2023, the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye published the Law on Renting of Residential Properties for Tourism Purposes. The Law sets out the requirements and obligations of lessees, lessors and intermediaries for the rental of residences for tourism purposes to real and legal persons for up to 100 days at one time (i.e., daily rentals) and the sanctions to be imposed in the case of violation. The Law entered into force on 1 January 2024.

The Law is available here (in Turkish) and our legal alert on short-term rentals is available here for details.

The main amendments introduced by the Law are as follows:

  • To certify and register residences rented for tourism purposes for a maximum period of 100 days, a permit must be obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism prior to entering into a rental agreement by the lessors that own property or limited real rights.
  • The unanimous decision of all flat owners must be submitted in the applications for the permit certificate for the buildings where the independent section, subject to the rental agreement for tourism purposes, is located. In a residential complex consisting of buildings with more than one independent section, this requirement is only sought for the building where the daily rental residence is located.
  • In buildings where the number of independent sections is more than 3, a permit can be issued in the name of the same lessor for, at most, ¼ of these independent sections, and if the number of independent sections calculated according to this ratio exceeds 5, the application will also require a workplace opening and operation license, and a unanimous decision of all floor owners if the building is located in a residential complex consisting of buildings with more than one independent section.
  • For residences containing more than one independent section, where there is a provision in the management plan issued in accordance with the Law of Property Ownership that short-term rental activities are allowed, and where there are services such as reception, security and a daily cleaning service, a permission certificate can be issued without the following conditions: (i) a unanimous decision of all floor owners of the building, and (ii) granting a permission certificate on behalf of the same lessor for, at most, ¼ of the independent sections.
  • The plaque to be issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism must be hung at the entrance of the flat.
  • It is prohibited for (a) the user to rent the residence leased from the permit holder to a third party on their own behalf, or (b) for the lessee to rent a residence leased for general accommodation purposes on their own behalf to a third party for tourism purposes on their own behalf. However, this prohibition excludes the use of the daily rental residence for legal entities' employees.
  • The provisions of the Identity Reporting Law shall apply to the residences for which the permit certificate is issued. In this regard, entry, exit and accommodation status of persons shall be recorded, and the lessors are obliged to record the necessary identity information of the lessees and report the required information to the law enforcement authorities.
  • The residence can only be leased for tourism purposes by the lessor itself or exclusively via a third party that is a Group-A travel agency operating certificate (i.e., TÜRSAB license) holder.
  • The lessors that already engage in daily rental activities as of the date the Law enters into force (i.e., 1 January 2024) must obtain a permit certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism within 1 month from the effective date. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will evaluate the application within 3 months and the lessors whose applications are rejected cannot engage in daily rental activities. However, the rights of the lessees of these daily rentals will continue until the end of the contract period.

Regulation Amending the Distance Sales Regulation

On 4 November 2023, the Ministry of Trade published the Regulation Amending the Distance Sales Regulation. The Regulation entered into force on 1 January 2024.

The Regulation is available here (in Turkish).

The Regulation postpones the effective date of the provisions regulating the following obligations to 1 January 2025:

  • The obligation regarding the preliminary information of the consumer to include the amount of the return cost, not exceeding the delivery cost if the goods are returned by the carrier foreseen by the seller for the return, and which party shall bear the return cost, and that the return cost will be borne by the consumer if the goods are returned by a carrier other than the one foreseen for return.
  • If the intermediary service provider collects the price on behalf of the seller or provider, and the consumer exercises the right of withdrawal after the delivery of the goods, if the price has not been transferred to the seller as of the date of receipt of the withdrawal notification, the obligation for the intermediary service provider to be jointly and severally liable with the seller or provider for the return of the goods or service price collected and the delivery costs to the consumer within 14 days from the date of delivery of the goods, subject to the right of withdrawal to the carrier that is foreseen for the return, or from the date of delivery to the seller if the goods are returned by a carrier other than the one foreseen for return.
  • The obligation for the consumer to return the goods to the seller or provider, or to the person authorized by the seller or provider within 14 days from the date of the consumer's notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal, unless the seller or provider makes an offer to take back the goods itself.
  • The obligation of the consumer to bear the cost of the return, not exceeding the delivery costs, if this is stated in the preliminary information, and if the amount for the return of the goods by the carrier foreseen by the seller is included.
  • The regulation stipulating that the consumer cannot use the right of withdrawal in contracts regarding the movables that are obligatory to be registered according to the Highway Traffic Law, and unmanned aerial vehicles that are obligatory to be recorded or registered; contracts regarding mobile phones, smart watches, tablets and computers that have been delivered to the consumer; contracts concluded through auction in the form of live auctions and contracts regarding the installation or assembly of goods that are specified in the introduction and user manual, to be installed or assembled by the seller or authorized service.

Regulation on the Principles and Rules on Retail Trade

On 14 December 2023, the Ministry of Trade published the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Principles and Rules on Retail Trade was published. The Regulation entered into force on 1 January 2024.

The Regulation is available here (in Turkish).

The main amendments introduced by the Law are as follows:

  • "Unfair commercial practices" is defined as activities that significantly disrupt the commercial activities or reduce the ability to make reasonable decisions, or cause one of the parties to be a party to a commercial relationship that it would not normally be a party to, in commercial relations between producers, suppliers and retail enterprises. Unfair commercial practices in the supply chain is prohibited.
  • Although not limited in number, the following practices are stated as examples of unfair commercial practices:
    • Reflecting the costs related to administrative and criminal sanctions, or customer complaints, except when caused by the fault of the other party
    • Taking commercial reprisals such as removing products from the list, reducing the amount of products ordered, stopping marketing or campaign-like services related to these products, or imposing financial obligations on the grounds that the provisions to be applied in cases of non-compliance based on objective criteria, such as failure to comply with the agreed delivery date, failure to meet the product quality, and storage conditions, are not included in the contract or on the grounds that an application has been made to public institutions or judicial authorities
    • Causing damage to the counterparty by making untrue or misleading statements, or notifications regarding the scale of the enterprise and the essential issues related to its products and activities
    • Returning agricultural and food products that are perishable within 30 days from the date of production, except for fast-moving consumer goods, whose maximum prices are determined by tariff, on the grounds that they cannot be sold after delivery or transfer of ownership.
  • The following activities shall be considered as unfair commercial practices in all cases:
    • Forcing the supply of goods or services from any real or legal person, except for the conditions such as product content and technology to be used, which are included in the contract in order to ensure quality standards
    • Reflecting the cost of the campaign to a party that does not want to make campaign sales
    • Failure to determine the terms of the commercial relationship in the supply of agricultural and food products by written contract, or by email, fax or other written means in electronic media, that can demonstrate the agreement between the parties
    • Including provisions in the contract that authorize unilateral changes to the detriment of the other party or that are not clear and understandable in material issues, such as maturity, return and campaign conditions
    • Receiving premiums and fees, even though no service is being provided that directly affects product demand, such as promotional services in the form of activities, advertisements, magazines, announcements and similar forms, or special positioning services in display units, and does not specify the type, duration and/or number of services provided and the amount or rate of the service fee in the contract; or receiving premiums and fees under the labels of store opening and renovation, turnover deficit, bank and credit card participation fees, and other labels
    • Cancelling orders for agricultural and food products that are perishable within 30 days from the date of production, within 30 days prior to the delivery date of the product, except in cases caused by the fault of the other party
    • Reflecting the costs of spoilage or loss after the delivery or transfer of ownership of agricultural and food products that are perishable within 30 days from the date of production, except where caused by the fault of the other party.
  • It is essential that payments arising from commercial relations between producers, suppliers and retail enterprises be made within the period stipulated in the contract.
  • Payment terms for agricultural and food products that can spoil within 30 days from the date of production shall not exceed 30 days if the creditor is smaller in scale than the debtor, and 45 days in other cases.
  • For agricultural and food products that do not spoil within 30 days from the date of production, the payment periods shall not exceed 60 days if the creditor is smaller in scale than the debtor.
  • If the payment is made by cheque, the date of valid presentation must be within the above-mentioned periods; if the payment is made by post-dated instruments, the maturity date must be within the above-mentioned periods.
  • The above payment periods shall be calculated based on the date of delivery or transfer of ownership, whichever comes first. In the calculation of the payment period for partial deliveries or transfers, each delivery or transfer will be considered separately.
  • Micro, small and mid-scale enterprises will be classified in accordance with the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Regulation, and to determine the scale, the debtor shall be obliged to request from the creditor the Enterprise Class and SME Qualification Certificate, issued through the e-Government portal showing the scale of the enterprise, and to provide this document to the creditor for its own enterprise.
  • The duration of payments made by employers to organizations providing meal card services and to retail establishments contracted by these organizations shall not exceed 30 days. This period shall start from the date of the invoice issued by the relevant parties.
  • The Ministry of Trade will be authorized to impose an obligation to sell food products for diseases requiring medical nutrition treatment on chain stores with more than 200 branches, whose main business activity is the sale of fast-moving consumer goods, to be applied in branches with a sales area of more than 250 square meters.

Türkiye Raises Threshold for Consumer Courts in 2024

Consumer complaints against sellers and manufacturers may only be brought before Turkish consumer courts if the amount in dispute is above a certain threshold. These thresholds are determined shortly before the beginning of each calendar year. Consumer complaints below the jurisdictional thresholds may only be brought before a consumer arbitral tribunal. Through the Communiqué on Raising the Monetary Limits Set Forth in Article 68 of Law No. 6502 on the Protection of Consumers and Article 6 of the Consumer Arbitral Tribunals Regulation, Türkiye set the threshold for 2024, raising it by 58.46%.

Any consumer complaints below TRY 104,000 (approximately USD 3,571) must be submitted to consumer arbitral tribunals, whereas those above the threshold must be submitted to consumer courts.

The Communiqué is available here (in Turkish).

Türkiye Increases Fines for Consumer Law Violations in 2024

Effective 1 January 2024, higher fines will be imposed for certain violations under the Law No. 6502 on Protection of Consumers ("Consumer Protection Law"). The fines will increase by 58.46% from 2023.

The Communiqué is available here (in Turkish).

In particular, companies that conducted the following:

  • Used unfair terms or failed to use 12-point, bold type with clear language in consumer agreements; failed to provide a guarantee certificate; or failed to provide explicit and legible safety information for consumers for goods deemed potentially harmful to consumers or the environment will be subject to a fine of TRY 2,172 (approximately USD 74) per violation.
  • Failed to comply with the obligations on consumer loan and housing finance agreements, and agreements concluded outside the workplace, will be subject to a fine of TRY 10,978 (approximately USD 377) per agreement or transaction.
  • Made deceptive or misleading representation through mass media advertising will be subject to a fine ranging from TRY 54,987 to 2,200,258 (approximately USD 1,888 to 75,559) per violation.

Conclusion

Significant legislative developments continue to be made in the commercial and trade sector. All stakeholders in the sector should carefully review the legislative developments and ensure compliance with the regulations.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.