Regulation Amending the Regulation on Distance Contracts Published.

The Regulation Amending the Regulation on Distance Contracts (“Amendment Regulation”), issued by the Ministry of Trade, was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 May. With the Amendment Regulation, several changes have been introduced to the Regulation on Distance Contracts (“Regulation”) concerning the exercise of the right of withdrawal and the return processes.

In this article, we have thoroughly examined the provisions introduced by the Amendment Regulation under various headings.

Right of Withdrawal and Carrier Information

With the Amendment Regulation, paragraphs (g) and (k) of the first paragraph of Article 5 titled “Preliminary Information” of the Regulation have been amended:

• Pursuant to paragraph (g), consumers must now be explicitly provided, within the scope of the preliminary information obligation, with the terms, duration, and procedure for exercising the right of withdrawal, as well as information regarding the carrier specified by the seller for returns. In addition, provisions regarding the carrier information related to the return of the product in the event the right of withdrawal is exercised, and which party will bear the return costs, have been omitted from the article. This amendment has been made to align with the new approach that aims to ensure the consumer is not held responsible for return costs once the right of withdrawal is exercised.

• With paragraph (k), it has been made mandatory to inform the consumer about application methods in the event of a dispute, such as the consumer arbitration committee and mandatory mediation as a condition for litigation.

Regulation on Return Cost Process

With the amendments made to Article 12 of the Regulation: the phrase “without prejudice to the third paragraph of Article 13” in Article 12(4) has been removed, and Article 12(5) has been amended to clarify the provisions regarding the return costs the consumer may face when exercising the right of withdrawal.

Accordingly:

• If the consumer uses the carrier designated by the seller in the return process, no return costs may be charged to the consumer.

  
  

• However, if the seller has not provided carrier information, return costs cannot be imposed on the consumer.

  
  

• If the branch of the carrier specified by the seller or the platform is not located in the area where the consumer resides, the return costs must be borne by the seller or the platform.

With this article, it becomes particularly important to provide carrier information in sales made through platforms; otherwise, failing to do so will clearly result in the inability to pass the return costs onto the consumer.

Amendments to the Exceptions to the Right of Withdrawal

Within the scope of the Amendment Regulation, the following provisions have also been repealed:

• As mentioned above, the third paragraph of Article 13, which regulated under which conditions the return costs would be borne by the consumer in the event of exercising the right of withdrawal, has been completely repealed to avoid contradictions with the new provisions and to ensure consistency in implementation.

• Paragraph (i) of the first paragraph of Article 15 has also been repealed. This article had enumerated certain contracts for which the consumer could not exercise the right of withdrawal unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Within this scope, under paragraph (i) of the first paragraph, consumers were unable to exercise the right of withdrawal for contracts concerning delivered electronic devices such as mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, and computers. However, with the Amendment Regulation, this paragraph has been repealed. Thus, as of 01.01.2026, consumers will be able to exercise the right of withdrawal for such delivered electronic devices, provided the conditions stipulated under the Law No. 6502 on the Protection of Consumers are met.

With these amendments, certain provisions that were included in the previous regulations but caused practical uncertainty have been repealed in an effort to ensure the hierarchy of norms and uniformity in implementation.

Effective Date and Compliance Period

The provisions introduced by the Amendment Regulation will enter into force on 1 January 2026. During this period, e-commerce companies, platform providers, and all relevant stakeholders are expected to bring their systems and procedures into compliance with the new provisions.

Conclusion and Evaluation

The provisions introduced by the Amendment Regulation indicate that a consumer-oriented approach continues to be adopted in distance contracts. Sellers and intermediary service providers will be required to fulfill their obligations regarding information and return processes more clearly and comprehensively.

It is of great importance that all sellers and platforms operating in the field of e-commerce carefully review these provisions and revise their sales contracts, preliminary information texts, and return procedures accordingly.