The amendment of the Consumer Protection Act, which was endorsed by the government at its session earlier today, is to be enacted by parliament. The modifications were incorporated in the bill after all requirements of consumers had been taken into consideration. As a result, among others, in the future complaint management will be faster and the sphere of competence for conciliation committees will be broader.

The proposal set to be submitted to the parliament will extend the definition of a consumer: provided the bill is adopted, in the future the protection secured by law will cover, for example, small enterprises as consumers as well.

On the basis of empirical evidence in the bill several regulations which have been enacted since the latest round of comprehensive amendments will be modified, for example regulations on complaint management and customer service, conciliation committee procedures, initiating a motion of public interest as well as procedures of the consumer protection agency.
According to the bill, regulations on complaint management will change. One of the amendments prescribes that an enterprise shall provide a meaningful reply to a consumer complaint until a certain deadline. Therefore, enterprises in the future must not any longer respond by that currently widespread cliché that the complainant is informed that further action is needed instead of providing a meaningful answer.

The draft includes regulation on the advisory activities of conciliation committees which are rendered to county (Budapest) trade and industry chambers. On the basis of the proposed modification, the conciliation committee shall also give advice about consumer rights and obligations if it is requested by a consumer or an enterprise besides its current competence of settling legal disputes in extra-judicial proceedings.

Consumers expect firm actions by the authorities against enterprises which breach the law, but they also want their complaints to be remedied. Furthermore, they want to have potentially easy access to all the basic information that is necessary for helping their decision-making as consumers and organize the settlement of their problems or legal disputes. Provided the bill is endorsed, in the future the handling of the complaints of consumers will be faster and – via for example the new regulation on motions in public interest – NGOs which work on behalf of consumers could also act more efficiently.

This bill aptly demonstrates the change of attitude in domestic consumer protection policy. One of its key principles is to make consumers self-confident so that they can handle their own issues with appropriate responsibility. In order to promote a self-confident attitude for consumers, the government considers providing optimal information and access to information for consumers of paramount importance. It is another key objective that special attention should be paid to safeguarding the interests of consumers which require special protection (children, minors, the elderly and the disabled).

The bill which was approved in order to achieve the aforementioned objectives is the latest indicator of the commitment of the government to consumer protection.

(Ministry for National Economy)