AMENDMENTS MADE IN THE ‘AFTER SALES SERVICES REGULATION’ WHICH HAS BEEN BROUGT INTO FORCE REGARDING THE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW (‘Law’). 16 February 2020

Presentment

Manufacturers or importers are obliged to provide after sales maintenance and repair services for the goods they produce or import during the economic life determined by the Ministry of Customs and Trade (‘Ministry’).

The manufacturers or importers may establish authorized service stations themselves, or they shall benefit from the established service stations or service organizations with condition that they are responsible for the services provided by the service stations.

The establishment, operation, numbers, features and other application procedures and principles of the service stations are determined by the regulation: After Sales Services Regulation (‘Regulation’).

This Regulation covers, the goods that the manufacturers or importers have to provide maintenance and repair services after sales, and the services carried out by service stations operating without any manufacturer or importer affiliation.

Amendments Published in the Official Gazette dated 12.02.2020

1. The List of Products Required After-Sales Service according to the Law has been updated and the new list is supplied in the annex of the Regulation.

You may access the ‘Annex’ by clicking the link below:
https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2020/02/
20200212-14-1.pdf

2. After Sales Service Sufficiency Certificate

According to the Law, manufacturers or importers are obliged to obtain a 'After Sales Service Sufficiency Certificate' approved by the Ministry for the goods determined by the regulation.

Before the amendment, it was regulated that the 'After Sales Service Sufficiency Certificate' shall be subject to re-application if it expires, however the amendment has been made obligatory to renew the after sales service sufficiency certificate before the validity period expires.

The 15 day period determined as the notification period to the Ministry in cases of changes in the services reported in the application for after sales service qualification certificate, has been increased to 30 days with the amendment.

3. Liabilities of Service Stations

According to the Regulation, in the case of absence of an authorized service station where the consumer is located, the authorized service station closest to the consumer is responsible for providing after-sales services.

The regulation in the form of;  ‘In case it is not possible to provide after-sales service at the authorized service station closest to the consumer; No transportation, postal, cargo or similar transportation expenses shall be requested from the consumer regarding the transportation and return of the goods to the company headquarters or to another authorized service station.’ before the amendment has been changed as follows:

‘Unless the usage of the consumer is contrary to the instructions in the identification and user manual; It is not possible for the authorized service stations to charge a fee such as transportation costs of any transportation, postal, cargo or service personnel related to the after-sales service from the consumer.’

4. Telephone Line

If a telephone line is allocated by the manufacturer or importer so that consumers may contact regarding after-sales services, the manufacturer or importer shall not be able to choose a higher tariff for this line than the usual fee rate.

5. Documents to be issued by Service Stations

Pursuant to the Regulation, it is obligatory for the service stations to issue a document regarding that the goods are delivered to them or received by them in relation to the defective goods delivered; except for the defective goods sent to them by cargo.

With the addition to the relevant article of the Regulation it is stated that, if the repair is made at the place where the goods are used, it is not mandatory to issue this document.

6. Liability of the manufacturer, importer and seller

The regulation in the form of; ‘Manufacturers or importers who do not have service in every geographic region, although they have established in the sufficient number of authorized service stations specified in the list attached to the Regulation; shall not charge any additional fees such as transportation, postal, cargo or transportation expenses of the service personnel to consumers during the economic life of the product, until the number of service stations reaches at least 1 in each geographic region, and 7 in total’  before the amendment has been changed as follows:

‘Unless the usage of the consumer is contrary to the instructions in the identification and user manual manufacturers, importers or sellers shall not charge any fee such as transportation, postal, cargo or service personnel transportation expenses to consumers, within the warranty period.’

It is also stated that; in case there is a website of manufacturers or importers, it is obligatory to have up-to-date contact information on all authorized service stations on these sites.

The obligation for manufacturers or importers to submit all authorized service station information to the website of the Service Information System created by the Ministry in a correct and complete manner including services installed in more numbers than specified in the attached list  and to update this information if there is a change in service information.

7. Provisional Articles

The after-sales service sufficiency certificates approved before 01.07.2020 shall be valid for 2 year from the date of approval.

The obligation to obtain an after sales service qualification certificate has been imposed for the new products added to the attached list of the Regulation and which has no determined standard, within 3 months after the enforcement date of relevant standards determined by the Turkish Standards Institute.