In the last decades the legislation of the European Union – and thus the legislation of Hungary – has paid extraordinary attention to building a jurisdiction which protects consumer rights. Within the legislation of the European Union there are mainly directives, which aim to describe certain goals, however, the exact method of achieving those are left open to the member states. Hungary has already implemented the majority of the European Union directives into its jurisdiction.
■ Main European Union directives affecting consumers
The oldest source of law (Directive 98/6/EC) stipulates the method and format of marking the price of a product, specifying certain rules for these, in order to be clear and understandable for the consumers.
The directive 2005/29/EC on the unfair commercial practices shall be mentioned within the main sources of law of the European Union regarding consumer protection. This directive defines the main terms of consumer protection and also stipulates among others what shall be considered as unfair, misleading or aggressive commercial practice.
The latest European Union directive is the 83/2011 directive on the consumer rights, which updated and adjusted the goals according to the newly modified needs of the consumers. The directive, in accordance with the expansion of the agreements concluded on the Internet, contains mainly regulations for the agreements between parties at different locations. As an important innovation, the directive stipulates the consumer’s right of withdrawal, thus the consumer is allowed to withdraw the agreement within 14 days without any justification, only by forwarding the formula of withdrawal.
■ Hungarian rules
The main rules for the agreements concluded between consumers and enterprises are governed by the Act V of 2013 on the Civil Code, which regulates the terms and the consumer protecting rules in accordance with the European Union directives. Among others, the Civil Code strictly describes concerning the consumers contracts and the general terms and conditions which stipulations shall be considered as unfair commercial practices. There are, however, certain terms and conditions which fall into the “grey zone”, which means that in these cases the enterprises have the opportunity to prove that their terms and conditions are fair. This way the law, besides the strict rules, still leaves a certain margin to the parties. The Civil Code contains regulations concerning the proving and the notice of the lack of conformity also. In an agreement concluded between the consumer and the enterprise it is prohibited to differ from the regulations on the commercial guarantee and the warranties to the detriment of the consumer.
The Decree of the Government Nr. 151/2003. (IX. 22.) expressly stipulates for the enterprises to undertake the commercial guarantee for durable goods in relation to the consumers. For example washing machines, dishwashers, and dryers shall be considered as such. The duration of the commercial guarantee shall be one year.
The Act CLV of 1997 on Consumer Protection prescribes for the enterprises to inform the consumers on their system of their complaint handling. If the consumer does not manage to resolve his complaint with the enterprise directly, he can turn to the conciliation boards at the chambers of commerce and industry. If the parties undertake themselves to the decision of the conciliation board the decision shall be considered equal to the judgment of the court, in other cases it shall only be considered as a recommendation. However, the procedure of the conciliation board does not exclude the possibility of an eventual court procedure later. The decision of the board may not be appealed, the alteration of the decision or recommendation may be requested at the court within 15 days.
A separate act (Act XLVIII of 2008) prohibits the unfair commercial practices in accordance with the European Union directive. The act comprehensively enumerates those practices which shall be considered as unfair or aggressive. In case of the breach of these stipulations the Hungarian Authority for Consumer Protection is entitled to proceed and to impose fines. The Hungarian Authority for Consumer Protection has local authorities in every county.
In accordance with the European Union directive, separate rules regulate the specification and the marking of prices in Hungary, as well as the mandatory elements of the ever increasing agreements concluded on the Internet. These rules are fully in compliance with the European Union directives.
Dr. Tamás Balázs, Balázs Kovátsits Legal Partnership
