Authorities move against misguiding discount ads

ISTANBUL

Authorities have made changes in a directive that regulates commercials and unfair business practices to protect customers from misguiding discount advertisements.

Under the new regulations, which have been published in the Official Gazette and will come into force as of March 1, sellers are required to show clearly the price of the product before the sale and the discounted price offered in the advertisements in print and other media outlets.

The new guidelines set the rules for comparing the prices before and after the sale. Accordingly, in order to make it clear to customers how much discount is made, the pre-discount price indicated in the advertisements should be the lowest price of a product or a service charged for within the past 30 days before the discount offer takes place.

Until today, the companies provided a comparison between the discounted price and price charged just before the sale.

In individualized discount offers, sellers should provide customers with information regarding the current price of the product and the price they offer to the buyer.

Other changes in the directive also stipulate that in the case of online shopping, only buyers will be able to comment about the sellers and providers of the products and services and those comments will be made available at least for one year.

Also, the online platforms, which post consumer complaints, are required to contact the companies and give them 72 hours to respond to the claims and comments about them.

The new directive also banned practices that may lead customers to pay higher prices for or buy the tickets on the black market for events, such as concerts, movies, and derby sports games.