The Law of Georgia on the Protection of Consumer Rights entered into force on July 1, 2022. The law is an important mechanism for the protection of consumer rights.

1. Protection of Consumer Rights
The law regulates the relationship between a trader and a consumer. A consumer is considered a natural person who purchases goods or services for non-commercial purposes.
The law provides for provisions on the basic rights and obligations of a trader and a consumer, distance contracts and contracts concluded outside the sector (learn more here), consumer contracts, unfair standard terms of contracts, unfair commercial practices, and also establishes institutional guarantees for the protection of consumer rights.
A separate structural unit was created within the Georgian Competition and Consumer Protection Agency to protect consumer rights.

2. Commercial Guarantee
The law provides for provisions on commercial guarantees. A commercial guarantee is, in addition to the obligation of the trader or manufacturer to ensure conformity with the contract, other obligations to reimburse the price paid, replace the goods, repair or service other than those arising from the obligation to eliminate the non-conformity with the contract, undertaken additionally and free of charge in favor of the consumer, which do not arise from the obligation to eliminate the non-conformity with the contract.

The trader is obliged to comply with the commercial guarantee issued by him, including the conditions given in the advertisement.
If the consumer requests it, it is mandatory that he be provided with a commercial guarantee in writing or in another form requested by him. Accordingly, if a business advertises a commercial guarantee about its products, it will be obliged to issue the same guarantee in writing, if the consumer requests it.
It is worth noting that the terms of the commercial guarantee should not impair the rights provided for by law, which are granted to the consumer.

3. Deadlines
The law establishes several deadlines that must be taken into account when dealing with the consumer.
If the consumer discovers a defect in the goods within 6 months of taking possession, it is assumed that the defect existed at the time of delivery of the goods. In this case, the trader bears the burden of proof that the goods were not defective in the first place. If the defect is discovered after the expiry of this 6-month period (but not more than 2 years), then the burden of proof shifts to the consumer. This does not apply to the purchase of second-hand goods. In such cases, the trader’s liability is subject to individual agreement between the parties.
Repair and replacement of the goods are the consumer’s primary rights.
The consumer also has the right to demand a price reduction if repair/replacement is impossible.
In addition, in cases provided for by law, the consumer has the right to withdraw from the contract. The consumer also has the right to demand compensation for damages.
During this period, the consumer can benefit from the terms of the commercial guarantee.

4. Unfair standard terms and conditions and unfair commercial practices
In many cases, a trader uses standard terms and conditions in his dealings with a consumer. However, it is important that the standard terms and conditions are not unfair. Unfair standard terms and conditions are void.
In addition, the law prohibits illegal commercial activities. Such activities are considered to be misleading commercial activities.

The following activities are considered unfair:

a) placing a mark of trust, a mark of quality or other similar mark without the relevant authority granted by the legislation of Georgia;

b) falsely indicating that a code of conduct is recognized by a public or other organization;

c) Arguing that the trader (his commercial activity) or the goods or services have received consent, permission, license, authorization, accreditation, etc. from a public authority or a private person, in the absence of such consent, permission, license, authorization, accreditation, etc., or arguing that the mandatory conditions for obtaining consent, permission, license, authorization, accreditation, etc. have been met, if these conditions have not been met;

d) Offering to purchase goods or services at a special price without disclosing important information on the basis of which the trader assumes that he himself or through another trader will not be able to deliver these goods or services or similar goods or services at the time, in the quantity and at the price that result from the said goods or services, the scale of advertising and the price offered (misleading advertising);

e) offering to purchase goods or services at a special price and then refusing to show the advertised goods to the consumer or to accept the order or to deliver them within a reasonable time and/or demonstrating a sample of defective goods with the intention of promoting the sale of other goods;

f) making a false statement that the goods or services will be available and/or that special conditions will apply only for a short period of time, with the aim of making the consumer make an immediate decision and not giving him sufficient time and opportunity to make an informed decision;

g) making a statement or creating the impression that a product or service prohibited by law may be sold;

h) representing the possibility of exercising a right granted to the consumer by law as if this were the goodwill of the trader and a special condition of the offer;

i) making a false statement about the nature and extent of the risk associated with the personal safety of the consumer or his family if the consumer does not purchase the product or service;

j) establishing or operating a pyramid scheme or facilitating its development in which the consumer is given the expectation that he will receive the majority of the financial benefit not from the sale or consumption of the product or service, but from the involvement of other consumers in the pyramid scheme;

l) making a statement that the trader intends to cease trading or change location, if this is not true;

(l) falsely claiming that a good or service can cure a disease or dysfunction or correct a developmental defect;

(n) disseminating materially incorrect information about market conditions or the availability of a good or service with the aim of inducing a consumer to purchase a good or service at a price less favourable than the market conditions;

(o) announcing a competition or publicly promising a prize without further awarding the prize or its reasonable equivalent;

(o) stating that a good or service is offered free of charge if the consumer, in addition to the costs of obtaining the good or service or its transportation, has to pay an additional amount;

(p) including an invoice/bill or other document requiring payment in marketing material that gives the consumer the false impression that he or she has ordered the good or service when he or she has not;

q) Making a false statement or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for commercial, business, trade or professional purposes, or passing himself off as a consumer by the trader;

s) Creating a false impression for the consumer that after-sales service is available in another country;

t) Advertising goods or services through mass media at the request of the trader in such a way that the consumer cannot recognize the advertisement by the content, image or sound of the advertisement;

u) Intentional advertising by a manufacturer of goods or services similar to those of another manufacturer in such a way that the goods or services are produced by the same manufacturer, thereby misleading the consumer;

u) Arguing that goods or services may bring the consumer a profit when gambling;

v) Providing post-purchase consumer services in a language other than the language used before concluding the purchase transaction, which is not the state language of Georgia, without clearly informing the consumer about this before concluding the purchase transaction.

Aggressive commercial activities are also prohibited.

The following are considered aggressive activities:

a) creating the impression that the consumer will not be able to leave the territory of the sector until he concludes the contract;

b) refusing to leave the consumer's place of residence by the trader against his will, except in cases where the trader's presence at the consumer's place of residence is necessary to fulfill the obligation provided for in the contract;

c) systematically making unsolicited offers to the consumer by telephone or other means of distance communication, except in cases where this is necessary to fulfill the obligation provided for in the contract;

d) Directly inviting a child to purchase an advertised good or service or persuading parents or other adults to purchase such good or service;

e) Providing false information to the consumer that, if he does not purchase the good or service, the trader's business or life will be in danger;

f) Creating a false impression that the consumer has won, will win or will win a prize or receive other similar benefits as a result of performing a certain action, when no prize or other similar benefit is provided, or requiring the performance of such an action, as a result of which the consumer may win a prize or receive other similar benefits, although the performance of this action is related to the payment of money or other additional costs by the consumer;

g) Requesting a consumer who wishes to receive insurance compensation to submit a document that is not necessary to establish the existence of the right to claim, or leaving the consumer's correspondence without responding in order to restrict his rights;

h) Providing a consumer with goods or services that he did not order and demanding full or partial payment of the price of the goods or services, or providing a consumer with a price different from the one ordered by the consumer The delivery of goods or services at the expense of the seller of these goods or services, without the possibility of returning them to their original condition.