New laws regulating consumer rights in Slovakia came into force on 1 July 2007. They:
- apply to goods sold and services provided (or related to business conducted) in Slovakia
- impose obligations on manufacturers, sellers, importers and resellers and give powers to public administration bodies to protect consumers
- regulate the position of organisations set up to protect consumers
The major changes as compared to the old Consumer Protection Act are:
- require all products to be of ‘standard quality’, defined as retaining all the critical characteristics which are necessary for its use and for it to live up to consumer expectations
- require products to be sent for expert evaluation (defined as an expert’s opinion or a statement issued by an authorised, chartered or accredited person) when the seller disputes liability, instead of getting them evaluated by their own service centres
- require sellers to submit the results of the expert evaluation to a supervisory body upon request
- allow consumers to complain to the supervisory body where their statutory rights have been infringed or the goods or services are not of the required quality. The case is then forwarded for hearing by the district authority, which may impose fines of up to SKK 10,000.
- require all sellers to be marked clearly when coming into contact with consumers, except seller in marketplaces
- require the sale price for goods to be displayed inclusive of tax or, where the type of goods makes this impossible, to state how the price is to be calculated, and
- require any additional costs such as delivery or postage to be stated or, where this cannot be determined in advance, to state that they may be added to the price
Sellers are also required not to:
- deny consumers their statutory rights or impose obligations on them without legal grounds for doing so
- decline to sell consumers a product displayed or otherwise ready for sale, or decline to provide a service which is within the scope of his operating capacities
- make the sale of a product or the provision of a service conditional on the sale of another product or the provision of another service, and
- act contrary to good manners, including:
- failing to follow established traditions
- displaying explicit discrimination signs
- deviating from custom and practice applicable to any goods or services
- doing anything that could cause injury to the customer by violating good faith, fairness or custom and practice
- engage in any business practices which are unfair, generally due to deception, omission or aggression
Deceptive business practices include misleading consumers through:
- the provision of incorrect information or information which, although materially correct, could nonetheless mislead an average consumer
- using comparative advertising to promote products which cannot be distinguished, or
- giving the seller an inducement not to perform his obligations
and this acting results or could result in the consumer making a decision on a business transaction he would not make otherwise.
Business practices which are unfair by omission omit or conceal critical information (or provide it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or inappropriate manner) which fails to disclose the purpose of the business practice and could (or does) induce the average consumer to make a decision on the transaction he would not otherwise make
Marketing practices are regarded as aggressive if they relying on molestation, pressure (including the use of physical power) or inappropriate influence.
Law: Consumer Protection Act no. 250/2007 Coll.
