The new law brings increased consumer protection in the online world from July 1.
Online shopping is a common part of the lives of many Slovaks today. The growing popularity of e-commerce also brings with it the need to strengthen the protection of consumer rights in the digital sphere.
The new law on consumer protection brings fundamental changes in the field of online shopping. Law no. 108/2024 Coll. will enter into force on July 1, 2024 and will replace the existing legal regulations, thereby eliminating the fragmentation of the regulation.
Alignment of rules for merchants
The new legislation will replace the existing law no. 250/2007 Coll. on consumer protection and Act no. 102/2014 Coll. on distance sales, thanks to which the confusing legal regulation in several legal regulations will be unified and transparent.
Traders (as the law now calls sellers or suppliers) will have to harmonize their General Terms and Conditions and Complaints Regulations with the new Consumer Protection Act .
In  the previous article, we brought you news from the field of introducing discounts. We will now look at the definition of online markets and the new information obligations of their operators. In the final third article, which we will publish soon, we will look at the changes in the complaints procedure.
 The online market is not an e-shop
An online marketplace is a service that allows consumers to enter into distance contracts with multiple merchants or other consumers through a website or application. It is therefore not an e-shop where the seller only offers his own products, or concludes contracts with consumers on its own behalf. Online markets are only websites that offer sales to several other merchants or individuals. Examples are Kaufland Online marketplace, Allegro or the popular Vinted.
Operators of online markets will have to ensure informing the consumer whether the person offering the product on the online market is a merchant or a natural person. In the case of a natural person, they must instruct the consumer that consumer protection legislation will not apply to the contract. These apply only to the sale and delivery of products (goods and services) by traders to consumers.
In addition, they must inform consumers about the main parameters that determine the order of products in the search result in the online interface and clearly indicate paid advertising if they offer a privileged position in the search for a fee.
For example, if an online market allows you to pay for a “preferred” position within the search results, this paid advertisement must be obvious to the consumer, e.g. marked as “Premium” or “Sponsoring” etc.
 Consumer reviews and unfair business practices
The new law also focuses on consumer reviews. Marketers must now state how they ensure that product reviews come from consumers who have actually bought or used the product. This is to prevent deceiving the consumer about the quality of the offered products with a “fake” review that does not come from a real experience, but is just a “sticker” to increase the chances of selling a product without real content.
Merchants who provide the possibility to include reviews within their e-shops will now have to state the way in which they ensure that these reviews really come from other consumers, or they must state that they do not do such a check.
False claims about review verification, manipulation of ratings or provision of fake reviews, including misrepresentation of consumer ratings or recommendations on social networks in order to promote products, will be considered unfair business practices, which will be sanctioned by the Slovak Trade Inspection.
Special contract for digital services
The law also introduces a new type of contract – a consumer contract with digital fulfillment. These will be special contracts, the subject of which will be the delivery of digital content or a digital service, e.g. various software, on-demand streaming platforms, etc.
Digital performance will have to meet general and agreed requirements, which include, for example, those newly defined by law: functionality, compatibility and interoperability. At the same time, the merchant must inform the consumer about updates to the digital fulfillment, including security updates, and ensure their delivery.
 Higher fines
Traders face larger fines for non-compliance with the new rules. The maximum amount will depend on the trader’s turnover for the previous accounting period.
For example, in case of violation of various information obligations of the trader, the fine will no longer be in the maximum amount of EUR 66,400 (repeated violation – EUR 166,000), but in the amount of EUR 200 to 2% of turnover, maximum EUR 200,000.
The possibility to avoid sanctions thanks to the so-called the institution of a voluntary measure, when the trader declares in writing the voluntary termination of the violation of the law and makes corrections towards the injured customers (if the nature of the violation allows it).
In the event that the supervisory body – the Slovak Trade Inspection – evaluates that this measure can be used to remedy and comply with legal regulations, it can postpone the matter and thus waive the imposition of a fine. However, the deadline for submitting a proposal for a voluntary measure is limited in time, ie it can be submitted no later than the deadline specified in the instructions before the start of the breach of duty procedure, or before the start of the breach of duty procedure itself.
In this way, traders will be able to “pour ashes on their heads” before proceeding with the breach of duty and thus achieve a postponement of the matter, thereby avoiding a fine.
With the aforementioned legislative measures, the legislator certainly pursues the laudable intention of achieving higher consumer protection in the online space. However, it should not be forgotten that every regulation has its limits, and therefore the greatest protection still lies in the use of each consumer’s own common sense.
KatarÃna KováÄová , Partner
Matej Škultéty , Junior Lawyer
