Slovenia: New Consumer Protection Act comes into effect on the 26th of January 2023
As the title already suggests, a new Consumer protection act (Slovenian abbreviation: ZVPot-1) is going to come into effect in Slovenia on the 26th of January 2023. This short note serves as a warning and highlights some of the novelties the new ZVPot-1 is going to introduce.
One of the bigger changes, that might be beneficial to the salesman (a broad term is used deliberately) is, that the consumer will need to act in a specific order, when he is going to have a faulty good that is still under warranty. Firstly, she/he is going to only have the possibility either to demand the good be repaired or substituted with a new and flawless good. Only if the salesman is going to be unable to act according to this demand, the consumer is going to be entitled to demand the return of either a proportional reduction or the whole purchase price.
A change is also coming to the definition of the used term “guarantor”. The new Act is going to regard the guarantor only as the company that issues the warranty and/or the authorized service. In the case the goods are imported, the guarantor is also going to mean the importer and distributer of the goods. The seller of the goods is going to be regarded as guarantor only if he is going to issue the warranty.
Perhaps one of the most significant changes, is the shortened time limit or rather deadline, in which the faulty goods must be repaired. The time limit with the new Act is going to be 30 days, which could be prolonged for an additional 15 days if the consumer is going to be informed about the fact, before the expiration of the 30 days. The information to the consumer is also going to have to include the reason(s) for prolongment.
May the reader be warned that the short notice, does not take into account all the novelties introduced with the new ZVPot-1!
In need of further information or help in connection with consumer protection regulation as a company in Slovenia or on the Slovenian market? Do not hesitate to contact the ALG partner in Slovenia – Odvetniška družba Završek & Šnajder o.p., d.o.o.
