It was announced how much fine was imposed for deceptive advertisements

Deceptive advertisements, the number of which has increased significantly in recent years, could have negative consequences for users. In our country, we saw that such advertisements were regularly fined.

Now the Ministry of Commerce, the Advertising Board in the first 7 months of the year It was announced how much the fine was imposed for deceptive advertisements.

Nearly 149 million TL fine was imposed

According to the statement, deceptive advertisements were used between January and July 2024. 148 million 783 thousand 980 TL It was stated that a penalty was imposed. In this process, the Board 1,064 units He made comments and evaluations about the file.

At the meeting held in July, 133 files were examined and 116 were found to be contrary to the legislation. The amount of fines imposed in July alone is 21 million 350 thousand 201 TL It was announced as. Apart from these, it was stated that while the practices of businesses on their websites were being examined, sanctions were imposed on practices that misled consumers. Explanations on this subject are as follows:

“At this month’s meeting of the Advertising Board affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce, the promotion and distance selling practices of retail businesses, publicly known as “discount markets”, through their websites were discussed as unfair commercial practices. As a result of the investigations, it has been revealed that membership is required to view the products on the specified websites and add them to the cart, but it is necessary to check the product stocks for the purchase process. Despite being a member, it was determined that the order could not be completed because it was stated that the product was not in stock even at the nearest branch. As a result of the investigations, it was determined that the consumers required membership to view and purchase the products on the websites, but the information that “stock information may change depending on the delivery address” was missing.

In addition, it was decided that consumers were misled because information was not provided about the validity period of the product price or stock limit, and administrative sanctions were imposed. In order to prevent consumer grievances and increase compliance with advertising legislation, the Advertising Board has cooperated with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen and informed all advertisers in the electronic commerce sector.

The Advertising Board determined the deficiencies in the regulation of consumer comments that affect consumers’ purchasing decisions in electronic commerce and decided to impose administrative sanctions on websites to prevent fake and misleading comments. These decisions aim to protect consumer experiences, especially in service sectors such as tourism and food and beverage.

The Advertising Board has imposed administrative sanctions on websites where consumers are not sufficiently informed about the evaluation order and conditions and which include consumer comments in violation of the rule that only those who purchase goods and services are allowed to comment. In order to protect our consumers, the Advertising Board, which operates within the Ministry of Commerce, continues its investigations and inspections to prevent the manipulation of our consumers’ purchasing decisions with comments that are not based on real experiences in online shopping.

It is announced to the public with respect.”

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