New Regulations on Distance Sales

The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Distance Contracts (“Amendment Regulation”), prepared by the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, was published in the Official Gazette dated May 24, 2025 and numbered 32909 and will enter into force on 1 January 2026. The key amendments introduced by the Regulation are summarized below:

1) Withdrawal Right – Plan to Impose Return Costs on Consumers Abandoned

Under certain provisions of the Regulation on Distance Contracts that were scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2026, sellers would have been able to charge consumers for the cost of returning goods in the event of withdrawal and these costs could have been deducted from the refund amount. This would have significantly altered the implementation of the right of withdrawal in favor of sellers. However, the Amendment Regulation has abandoned this plan and decided to preserve the current consumer-friendly approach. Accordingly, the following provision has been retained:

“Where the consumer returns the goods via the carrier specified by the seller, the consumer shall not be held responsible for any return costs. If the seller fails to specify a carrier in the preliminary information, the consumer shall not be charged any return costs.”

2) Scope of Products Eligible for Withdrawal Expanded

Under the amendment published in the Official Gazette dated 23 August 2022 and numbered 31932, contracts relating to products such as mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets and computers delivered to the consumer had been excluded from the scope of the right of withdrawal and this exclusion was also scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2026.

However, this regulation has also been repealed under the Amendment Regulation and the scope of the right of withdrawal has been preserved in its current form.

3) Obligation to Inform Consumers of Legal Remedies in Preliminary Information Forms Introduced

An update has been made to the mandatory content of preliminary information forms. Accordingly, it will be mandatory to inform consumers, in the forms, that in the event of a dispute, they may apply to the consumer arbitration committee or, in accordance with Article 73/A of Law No. 6502, file a lawsuit before the consumer court after first applying to a mediator.