New regulations effective from January 1st

While a series of regulations in the field of domestic trade came into effect as of January 1, 2024, the validity period of some has also been extended. 

PRICE TAG REGULATION FOR RESTAURANTS AND EATERIES

With the amendment to the Price Tag Regulation, as of January 1 (today), documents regarding tariffs and price lists in restaurants, eateries, cafes, and similar food and beverage service establishments will be placed in front of the entrance door and on the tables in a way that can be easily seen and read by consumers.

This regulation aims to prevent disputes in service provision and to stop consumers from being victimized by arbitrary price increases.

PRACTICES IN RETAIL TRADE

Among the regulations that will come into effect as of today are changes in the field of retail trade.

In this context, the payment period for the supply of agricultural and food products that can spoil within 30 days from the production date has been set at 45 days. This period was determined as 30 days in cases where the scale of the creditor is smaller than the scale of the debtor. For the supply of agricultural and food products that do not spoil within 30 days from the production date, the payment period became 60 days if the scale of the creditor is smaller than the scale of the debtor.

On the other hand, the Ministry has been authorized to impose an obligation on chain stores with more than 200 branches that sell fast-moving consumer goods to sell food products for diseases requiring medical nutritional treatment in branches with a sales area of more than 250 square meters.

REGULATION FOR SECOND-HAND MOTORCYCLES

In order to prevent deceptive and fake advertisements, an obligation has been imposed on advertising platforms in the automotive and real estate sectors to verify the identity and contact information of advertisers and to check whether they have the authority to place advertisements.

Administrative fines ranging from 10 thousand liras to 100 thousand liras per advertisement will be applied to advertising sites that act contrary to the aforementioned provision.

Marketing second-hand motor vehicles through advertisements at a price higher than the sales price recommended by the manufacturer or distributor has been prohibited. The application period for this regulation has been extended until July 1. In addition, the marketing and sales restriction for second-hand vehicles, known in the public as the "6-month-6,000-kilometer regulation," has been extended until the same date for both authorized dealers and individual sellers.

Motorcycle sales have also been included in the restriction applied to automobiles and off-road vehicles, as well as the practice of preventing sales within the scope of commercial activities that constitute a violation of this at notaries.

CAPITAL AMOUNT DECISIONS

Marketplace sellers have been enabled to move their own data to other electronic commerce marketplaces whenever they wish.

Regulations have been made regarding the rules for these places to offer for sale or mediate the sale of goods bearing the brands of themselves or persons with whom they are in economic integrity.

In order to prevent very large-scale e-commerce marketplaces from abusing their market power, limitations regarding banking and payment services have been imposed on these places. Restrictions have been placed on courier activities, excluding sales made on the marketplace's own site and sales made by the marketplace itself in electronic or physical environments.

The "minimum capital amounts" for joint-stock and limited liability companies have been increased. This amount has been raised from 50 thousand liras to 250 thousand liras for joint-stock companies, and from 10 thousand liras to 50 thousand liras for limited liability companies. In addition, the initial capital for non-public joint-stock companies that accept the registered capital system has been set at a minimum of 500 thousand liras.

News Source: 12punto