NEW CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT - ACT NO. 108/2024 COLL.

#117New Consumer Protection Act - Act No. 108/2024 Coll.

With validity from 22.05.2024 and effective from 01.07.2024, a new Consumer Protection Act has been approved, which will be the basic legislation in this area in the future and will replace several currently valid laws. This law also significantly modernises consumer legislation and harmonizes it with EU legislation.

The new Act will replace the current Consumer Protection Act, as well as the Act on Consumer Protection in the Sale of Goods or Services Based on a Distance Contract or a Contract Concluded Outside the Seller's Premises and the Act on Supervision and Assistance in Dealing with Unjustified Geographical Discrimination of Customers in the Internal Market.

The most significant changes in the new law are:

1. harmonising the terms used in accordance with EU legislation, updating the information requirements for contracts concluded at a distance or off-premises contracts in the context of digitalisation, and re-regulating the information obligations of operators of online marketplaces, who will, for example, have to explicitly state whether an offer comes from a trader or a non-business;
2. extension of the withdrawal period without giving a reason from the original 14 days to 30 days if the contract was concluded during an unsolicited visit of the trader to the consumer's home or during an organised event for the sale and presentation of products;
3. introduction into the legal order a definition of digital content, digital services or things with digital elements in response to market developments and changes in European consumer legislation through amendments to the Civil Code.