Law on Protection of Consumer Rights

Article 4 is intended to establish the concept of quality. Through its points, practically fundamental concepts of the application of the entire law are established. In fact, almost all requirements for satisfaction of claims come down to establishing the quality of products and services.

Do you need to go all the way (up to filing a lawsuit) if your rights have been violated?

Not really

It is on this article that all claims regarding defects and manufacturing defects will be based. Any buyer who makes a complaint to the seller about the poor quality of the goods will first of all have to prove this fact. And in this case, he can confidently refer to this article.

At the same time, this legal document regulates almost all types of sales and establishes standards for determining quality for any type of goods or services.

Article 22 of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights

Determines the time frame for satisfying a citizen’s claims.

Comments

The provisions of the Federal Law establish a ten-day period for fulfilling certain buyer claims related to the discovery of defects in the purchased item, the provision of insufficient information about the product or the lack of necessary information.

What regulates

The article defines issues of time-limited fulfillment of individual buyer requirements in connection with product defects. The minimum period helps the parties resolve the conflict due to detected deficiencies in a short time.

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Content

Law of the Russian Federation “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” dated 02/07/1992 No. 2300-1 (as amended on 07/18/2019). Article 22 deadlines for satisfying individual consumer requirements.

Citizen's claims that must be fulfilled within 10 days:

proportionate reduction in the price of the product;
reimbursement of repair costs by the buyer or a third party;
refund of money paid;
repayment of losses incurred due to defective goods or due to the provision of inappropriate information.

Explanation

If the purchase has a minor defect, the purchaser may ask for a proportionate reduction in the price. This is determined by the parties in a particular case: the discount is equal to the cost of repairing the defective product, or the manager offers his own discount option. The buyer is not prohibited from announcing a new price himself. If mutual agreement is not reached on the spot, then such a requirement is presented in writing.

Warranty cards, as a rule, indicate a ban on repairs by unauthorized persons, but this happens, and the law provides for this (Article 18 of the Labor Code): if the seller refuses to repair it or it is urgently necessary to restore the functionality of the product, or it threatens life and health.

Attention! When making repairs yourself, prepare evidence, for example, take a detailed video of the breakdown. Receipts for parts must be retained. In case of repair not in an authorized warranty workshop, obtain a defective certificate, a certificate of work performed, and confirmation of payment. After attaching all documents, write an application for reimbursement of expenses.

The counterparty who did not provide comprehensive information in Russian is responsible for shortcomings that arose after the purchase, since the client could not familiarize himself with the properties and characteristics of this product.

From the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, losses:

current or future expenses of the consumer to restore the violated right;
loss or damage to his property;
the lost income that he would have received if his right had been exercised.

Types of losses:

Damage to personal property.
Harm to health.
Expenses for treatment, medications.
Lost income.

Facts must be documented.

The seller must fulfill all these requirements within 10 calendar days. This period includes both working and non-working days.

Commentary on Article 16 of the Russian Federation Law of the Russian Federation

1. The general conditions and procedure for concluding and executing civil contracts are regulated by civil law. One of the main principles of contractual relations is the complete equality of the parties to the contract.

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However, the long-term monopoly of the state in the field of trade and consumer services has led to the actual dependence of the consumer on the will of the seller and performer, despite the “correct” decisions made at different levels of management. In this regard, the Law establishes at the highest legal level certain provisions aimed at protecting the interests of the consumer in this area. An important guarantee of protecting consumer interests are the rules established by Art. 16 Law of the Russian Federation.

The appearance of this article is due to the fact that the circumstances of concluding contracts, and above all, retail purchase and sale, do not always give the consumer the opportunity to exclude conditions that are contrary to the law.

According to current legislation, a contract is not only a written, but also an oral agreement of the parties (in this case, the consumer and the seller (performer) on price, quality and other conditions. This circumstance is often abused by unscrupulous sellers and performers in order to take advantage of the dependent position of the consumer, impose unnecessary products or other illegal conditions on him.

The law speaks of the invalidity of individual terms of the contract, thereby recognizing the possibility of simultaneous validity of other terms. The question that arises in this regard about the legal fate of the entire transaction must be resolved in accordance with Art. 180 of the Civil Code: the invalidity of part of a transaction does not entail the invalidity of its other parts, if it can be assumed that the transaction would have been completed without the inclusion of its invalid part. Consequently, if it can be assumed that the transaction would not have taken place without the inclusion of invalid terms, it is considered invalid as a whole.

2. Some rights of consumers in the field of trade and other types of services, which are of practical importance and are often violated, are defined by the Law more specifically. These rights include the right to freely choose goods (work, services). This means, firstly, that any product in the store must be sold, and any service related to the performer’s profile must be provided at the consumer’s request. Secondly, the choice must be truly free, without direct or indirect coercion. It is prohibited to condition the acquisition of some goods (services) on the mandatory acquisition of others. Losses caused to the consumer by violation of this norm are compensated by the trade enterprise or contractor in full.

The application of the stated standards in practice may cause certain difficulties. The imposition of goods and services unnecessary to the consumer usually occurs through the sale of notorious “sets”, where, along with scarce ones, unnecessary, stale goods are placed, or the use of expensive optional finishing materials, fittings, packaging, etc. Illegal objective conditions created by the seller or performer often force the consumer to agree with them. At the same time, unnecessary goods or services cannot always be separated from the essential ones. In these cases, if appealing to the management of the enterprise with the relevant requirements does not produce results, the consumer can resort to judicial protection, the help of consumer rights protection bodies under the local administration, and public consumer organizations.

3. The law provides that in case of violation of the consumer’s right to free choice of goods (work, services), damages caused may be recovered. If additional services are imposed on a consumer without his consent, he may demand a refund of the amounts paid for such services.

The rules for the sale of certain types of goods, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 19, 1998 N 55, stipulate that in the case of delivery of large goods by the buyer, the seller is obliged to ensure loading of the goods onto the buyer’s vehicle free of charge.

It seems that, by analogy with paragraph 6 of Article 18 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, this rule can be extended to goods weighing more than 5 kg. For the same reasons, if the seller fails to fulfill loading obligations, the buyer has the right to carry it out at his own expense, and the seller is obliged to reimburse him for the expenses incurred. For example, by providing an appropriate discount on the price.

4. On the concept of other legal acts of the Russian Federation, see the commentary to Art. 1 and 4 of the Law.

5. On recognizing the terms of the contract as invalid, see the commentary to Art. 4 STD.

6. On the concept of losses, see paragraph 5 of the commentary to Art. 13 ZoZPP RF.

Return deadlines for the Russian Federation

If the seller refuses to voluntarily fulfill the claim or ignores the requirement, the buyer has the right to go to court within 3 years from the date of discovery of the violated rights.

Money

Within two weeks after making a purchase, you are allowed to return money for items of proper quality, but not suitable in style, color, or size. If there are no similar products for exchange, the seller returns the money.

If a defect is discovered, the requirement to return the money is made within the following time limits:

warranty period;
best before date;
within 2 years if no warranty is specified or less.

For technically complex goods – 15 days after purchase. After this time - in the case of:

detection of significant deficiencies;
if the warranty repair lasted more than 45 days;
Repeated repairs were carried out for a total of 30 days per year.

Important! The manufacturer or importer is allowed to claim a refund of the amount paid if significant defects are identified during the service life of the product, and if it is not installed, then 10 years, but the owner proves that this is a manufacturing defect.

Product

The buyer may change his mind about paying for a low-quality item, and if it has already been purchased, return the amount within 10 days. In turn, he gives back the product. Delivery is at the seller's expense.

At the time of refund, a similar item may cost more. The buyer has the right to ask for a refund at the new cost of such goods.

Reimbursement

The seller is obliged to pay the costs of eliminating the defects by the buyer himself or another person.

Losses

Claims for compensation for losses arising from poor-quality products or due to incomplete or missing information are fulfilled within 10 days.

First point: terms and conditions of the contract that infringe on consumer rights

The beginning of the article is devoted to the establishment of mandatory norms aimed at implementing the principle of freedom of contract in relations with the participation of the client: the first paragraph of the article declares any terms of any agreements between the seller and the client automatically invalid if they (from the point of view of the law) violate or infringe on the rights of the consumer.

The commentary to the article explains that “one of the main principles of contractual relations is the complete equality of the parties to the contract.” Counterparties have the right to agree on any points and sign any agreements, if any parts of these agreements do not contradict the imperative norms of paragraph 1 of Article 16 of this Law.

Note that we are talking about individual clauses or wording of the contract, and not about the entire agreement as a whole. At the same time, the remaining contents of the agreement, which do not contradict the legislation and norms ensuring consumer rights, remain valid (Article 180 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The law states that the invalidity of part of a transaction does not lead to the invalidity of the remaining parts if it is assumed that the contract can be performed without triggering a clause that infringes on the rights of the client.

Thus, if significant parts or wording of the agreement are excluded, which determine the possibility of fulfilling obligations under the agreement as a whole, the entire agreement automatically becomes invalid.

According to the law, a contract is considered not only a written agreement signed by the parties, but also oral agreements reached . This clarification protects customers from “unscrupulous” sellers who, taking advantage of the lack of documents confirming their words, provide incomplete or false information or impose something on customers.

The first paragraph also stipulates the need

compensation for losses

losses that the buyer incurred as a result of fulfilling the terms of the contract that infringed the rights of the consumer. The manufacturer, performer or seller is obliged to reimburse such costs in full.

Agreements for the provision of communication services are often replete with conditions that infringe on the rights of the client. This concerns the procedure for suspending the provision of communication services by the operator, limiting the company’s liability for the quality and timing of service provision, as well as the notorious unilateral change in the terms of the contract. Such contractual terms violate the law.

How it happens in practice

Effect of Art. 22 of the PPA is aimed at voluntary pre-trial resolution of the dispute. It is important to remember: all claims must be made in writing. Verbal complaints may be ignored. If the store refuses to accept the application, it is sent by registered mail with notification.

In practice, sellers try to voluntarily fulfill the demands of customers, since leaving a written request without consideration will result in the accrual of a penalty, a fine, and a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor will lead to an unscheduled inspection of the store.

Procedure for returning goods of inadequate quality to the seller

Return of goods of inadequate quality, in accordance with clause 1 of Article 18 of the RFP, is possible in the following cases:

If the product does not meet the stated requirements and was presented by the consumer within the specified time in proper condition.
If delivery deadlines are violated, you can refuse the goods.
The product can be accepted if it is issued under warranty and the breakdown was discovered during the warranty period.
Complex technical products may be returned if they are repeatedly damaged during the warranty period.

In paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article indicate that a claim regarding the quality of a product and its return can be addressed both to the trade organization or individual entrepreneur who provided the service, and directly to the manufacturer who produced the low-quality item.

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At the request of the person who provided the goods, the buyer must return them in good condition, with product labels and in the original box or packaging. This procedure takes place on the basis of a written complaint drawn up by the consumer. If the box is large and its weight does not allow transportation on public transport, the purchase will be returned at the expense of the seller.

Also, if an examination is necessary, the seller is obliged to do it. If, as a result of the examination, facts of inappropriate treatment of the item after purchase are revealed, the seller has the right:

refuse to accept a thing;
recover the cost of the examination through the court.

In this case, the buyer has the right to request a second independent examination and file a counterclaim. The trial will rely on proof by both parties of the timing of the defect or damage.

The fault of the seller or manufacturer will be recognized if the defect occurred before the item was purchased. And vice versa - the buyer’s fault is established if the damage occurred due to improper use or storage. These provisions are reflected in paragraph 6 of this article.

This is important to know

For failure to fulfill the buyer's requirements listed in Article 22 of the Law within the prescribed period, the seller (manufacturer) will be obliged to pay a penalty for each day of delay in the amount of 1% of the price of the goods.

For refusal to voluntarily legally fulfill the client’s demands, in addition to the penalty, a fine is provided - 50% of the amount awarded in favor of the plaintiff, as well as moral damages.

Dear readers! To solve your problem right now, get a free consultation

— contact the lawyer on duty in the online chat on the right or call: +7 (499) 938 6124 — Moscow and region.
+7 (812) 425 6761 — St. Petersburg and region. 8 (800) 350 8362 - Other regions of the Russian Federation You will not need to waste your time and nerves - an experienced lawyer will solve all your problems! Or describe the situation in the form below:

Expertise

If an inspection is carried out to detect a deficiency, then an examination is carried out to determine its causes. Its production is not timed to coincide with the fact that the product was recognized as defective by the store. In other words, the rights of the consumer when defects are discovered in a product depend on the results of the examination. This procedure is necessary when protecting the interests of buyers. After all, Article 18 establishes the rights of consumers only when defects are discovered in a product, and leaves only examination as a method of verifying their arguments.

The Consumer Protection Law establishes the following provisions on this issue:

When will this be useful? Examination is a purely beneficial procedure for the seller when returning a product. After all, a store is just an intermediary and product defects rarely occur through its fault. Most defects occur at the time of production. This, of course, does not relieve the seller of his duty to the consumer. It is the examination that helps to establish what caused a particular product defect. It is not always possible to achieve this goal, but in most cases it clearly indicates the cause of the problem.
An examination carried out by third parties, no matter on whose side it is carried out, is not considered mandatory for the counterparty. Because of this, most disputes end up in court. The results of the procedure carried out by the court are binding on both parties to the dispute.
The Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights to Return Goods indicates the decisive importance of the examination, especially in determining the culprit. This procedure helps to identify such a person.

Marriage may result from the actions of others. These include manufacturers, carriers, etc. In such situations, the seller’s responsibilities are not relieved. At the same time, he acquires the right of recourse against the guilty third parties.

Who should conduct the examination

As with the return of ordinary goods, quality control and examination must be carried out by the seller at his own expense, notifying the buyer about this.

The consumer also has the right to independently contact an expert organization to conduct an independent examination of the product before making a claim regarding its quality.

In this case, the conclusion of an independent expert must be attached to the claim, but, nevertheless, the seller, if he disagrees with the presented conclusion, still has the right to conduct his own examination.

In case of disagreement with the examination carried out by the seller, the consumer has the right to challenge it in court. The same applies to cases where there are two expert opinions from both sides, and both are disputed by the parties. In this case, an examination of the quality of the goods, carried out on the basis of a judicial ruling, will put an end to it.