Significant Changes Introduced to After Sales Services Scheme

Recent Development

The Regulation on the Amendment of the Regulation on After Sales Services (“ Amending Regulation ”) was published in the Official Gazette No. 31037 on January 12, 2020. The Regulation introduces significant amendments to after sales services, which will enter into force on July 1, 2020.

What’s New?

Various articles of the Regulation on After Sales Services (“ Regulation ”) were amended, presenting new obligations to the respective parties and introducing new products subject to the Regulation.

Obligations of the Manufacturer, Importer and Seller

• Within the guarantee period, manufacturers, importers and sellers are not allowed to request any fees from the consumer, such as fees for transportation, post, shipping or transfer of the service personnel, excluding cases of product usage contrary to the user manual instructions.
• Further, if the manufacturers and importers have a website, they must publish up-to-date contact details of all authorized service stations on their website.
• Manufacturers and importers must provide complete and accurate information on all authorized service stations to the Service Information System (SERBIS) website to be created by the Ministry of Trade (“ Ministry ”) within 30 days. They must also update the relevant information if there are any changes.
• Lastly, if the importer or manufacturer provides the consumer a phone number for after sales services offered by the manufacturers and importers, they are not allowed to request from the consumer a fee for calls that are above the usual tariff.

Certificate of After Sales Services Competence

• The Amending Regulation also introduced changes regarding the After Sales Services Competency Certificate. With the amendments, the After Sales Services Competency Certificate must be renewed before its date of expiration.
• Manufacturers or importers must communicate any changes on the services indicated in the After Sales Services Competency Certificate application to the Ministry within 30 days of the changes.

Requirements and Obligations Related to the Service Stations

• Service stations established as per the Regulation must have the specifications indicated by the regulations or standards defined by the Ministry or Turkish Standards Institute (“ TSI ”).
• Additional service stations established in addition to the required number of service stations and service stations that the Ministry is not required to be informed about, must also comply with the Regulation.
• Under the amended Regulation, authorized service stations cannot request any fees from the consumer within the guarantee period, such as fees for transportation, post, shipping or transfer of the service personnel, excluding cases of product usage contrary to the user manual instructions.
• The service station’s obligation to prepare a document (including information such as the name, surname and signature of the person delivering the good) related to defective products is not applicable to cases where the repairing takes place in the location that the product is used.

Transition Period

• After Sales Services Competency Certificates approved before the effective Amending Regulation date of July 1, 2020 are valid for two years as of the date of approval.
• It is obligatory for manufacturers and importers to obtain an After Sales Services Competency Certificate for products recently introduced to the attached list of the Regulation that do not yet have a standard within three months as of the effective date of the respective standard prepared by the TSI.

Conclusion

As the Regulation brings substantial changes to after sales services and introduces new products subject to the Regulation, all parties subject to the Regulation should carefully review the amendments and take active steps accordingly until the date of effect of the Amending Regulation, July 1, 2020.