At the beginning of February 2017, the Hungarian Ministry of National Development published a summarizing report on the companies’ obligations to provide information for consumer protection.
From 1 January 2017, the institutional system of consumer protection authorities has been altered and the district offices became the general authorities. As a result, consumers have the opportunity to deal with their consumer protection cases in the office nearest to their residence.
The Ministry summarised the information to be made available for the customers: a company having a shop shall indicate visibly and legibly the address of its seat, as well as its address, phone or email contact details that may be used by consumers in case of a complaint. In addition, the seat, phone and internet contact and the postal address of the competent conciliation panel („békéltető testület” in Hungarian) shall also be indicated in the shops. In case there is a security service working in the shop, the consumers shall be informed about its name, seat and the regulations of its operation affecting the consumers.
The Ministry highlighted that no fine will be imposed by consumer protection authorities at the time of the first inspection in case the company failed to provide the necessary information. The authority will only notify the company about the failure at the time of the first infringement by the small or medium-sized enterprises.
By Rita Parkanyi, Attorney, KCG Partners Law Firm