New Consumer Protection Act (ZVPot-1), which was adopted by Slovenian parliament at the end of September, is the result of implementation of three EU directives and, in addition to novelties in the field of digital content, it also includes rules previously regulated by Consumer Protection against Unfair Commercial Practices Act. The latter will cease to apply once new Consumer Protection Act enters into force.
Like its predecessor, new Consumer Protection Act pursues fundamental principles aimed to protect a consumer who is generally seen as the weaker party and consumer’s right to administrative and judicial protection. In addition, new Consumer Protection Act also facilitates the principle of legal certainty, since it provides clearer rules and hierarchy of consumers’ rights.
In addition to numerous novelties in the field of digital content, the novelties introduced by the new legal framework include the following:
- a clear hierarchy of consumers’ warranty claims, which determines that a supplier is primarily obliged to repair or replace goods (both free of charge), whereas consumer’s entitlement to reduction of purchase price or contract withdrawal is only secondary in nature;
- the deadline for establishing a conformity of goods is now explicitly determined, since a consumer can request that repair or replacement of goods is performed no later than within 30 days as of notification of defect, whereas mentioned period can be extended for additional 15 days;
- a consumer is entitled to a right to withdraw from a sales contract (in spite of the hierarchy of claims) if a defect in goods occurs within 30 days as of their delivery;
- a seller’s right of recourse, if it has eliminated defects in goods which resulted from actions of other companies in a supply chain,
- the presumption that a defect in goods already existed at the time of their delivery, if the defect becomes apparent within one year as of the delivery of goods.
New Consumer Protection Act now also regulates the contents of contract for supply of digital content and provision of digital services, as well as the mandatory warranty for conformity of digital content or digital services. It should be pointed out that some of the rules which apply to the aforementioned contracts also apply in those cases where a consumer undertakes to provide a company with its personal data in exchange for supply of digital content or digital services.
