Mobile phones, smart watches, tablets and computers are no longer excluded from the right of withdrawal, in distance contracts

On May 24, 2025, the Regulation Amending the Distance Contracts Regulation (“Regulation”), prepared by the Ministry of Trade, was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32909. This Regulation introduces amendments concerning notice obligations, the right of withdrawal (right of rescission), and return costs.

This Regulation added the following into the category of information required to be provided to the consumer regarding the exercise of the right of withdrawal: The period, procedure, and information regarding the carrier designated by the seller for the return.

According to the amendments made to the article titled “Obligations of the Seller or Provider”:

• During the exercise of the right of withdrawal, if the goods are returned through the carrier specified by the seller for the return, the consumer shall not be held responsible for the return costs.
• If the seller does not specify any carrier for the return in its pre-signing notice, the consumer shall not be charged any fee about the return costs.
• If the designated carrier does not have a branch in the location where the consumer is located, the seller shall be obliged to collect the goods from the consumer, free of charge.
• In case of distance contracts established through a platform, if the failure to include information regarding the carrier designated for the return in the pre-signing notice or if the lack of a branch of the designated carrier in the consumer’s location, is attributable to the intermediary service provider, the said costs and obligations must be borne by the intermediary service provider.

The Regulation also removes the provision stating that the right of withdrawal cannot be exercised in contracts relating to mobile phones, smart watches, tablets, and computers, delivered to the consumer. The implementation of this article had already been postponed twice and was controversial in terms of restricting consumer rights.

Finally, the requirement for consumers to apply to a mediator before applying to the Consumer Court regarding disputes has also been introduced as a condition of litigation.

It can be said that these amendments bring more consumer-friendly and protection-oriented provisions into the Distance Contracts Regulation.vurularını Tüketici Mahkemesine yapmadan önce arabulucuya başvurması gerekliliği de dava şartı olarak getirilmiştir. Bu değişikliklerin, Mesafeli Sözleşmeler Yönetmeliği’ne daha tüketici dostu ve korumaya yönelik hükümler getirdiği söylenebilir.