Direct selling is a sales mechanism in which a consumer good or service is sold directly to the consumer at home, at the home of an acquaintance, at the workplace or at another place that is not a point of sale, through a seller's explanation and/or demonstration. The Regulation on Contracts Established Outside the Workplace published in the Official Gazette No. 29236 on 14.01.2015 regulates the basic principles of the direct selling system.
The Law Proposal on the Amendment of the Law on the Protection of Consumers and Certain Laws was approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology Commission. In line with the amendment, a new draft law on the direct sales system has been prepared.
In the Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection ("Law"), the only regulation on direct sales is found in Article 47 titled "Contracts concluded outside the workplace". In paragraph 7 of Article 47, direct sales contracts are regulated as follows: "The mandatory content of the contract, out-of-scope contracts, direct sales, rights and obligations of the consumer and the seller and provider, right of withdrawal, obligation to inform, delivery, qualifications to be sought in those who will sell and other implementation procedures and principles are determined by regulation." In line with this regulation, the procedures and principles of the direct sales system are covered in Articles 24 and 25 of the Regulation on Contracts Established Outside the Workplace.
With the new draft law adopted by the Commissions, it is envisaged that the direct selling system will be regulated in the law with Article 47/A, which will follow Article 47 of the Law. Article 47/A of the Draft Law defines the direct selling system as "Direct selling system is a sales system in which
direct sellers, who are created by the direct selling company and who are not employed under an employment contract and who operate under the names of independent representatives, distributors, consultants and similar names in return for benefits such as commissions, premiums, incentives and rewards, market goods or services to consumers." Article 47/A of the draft law stipulates that direct selling companies must be capital companies. It is prohibited to charge additional fees to direct sellers in return for joining or participating in the system, or to raise or lower the system level in return for the direct seller's sales.
In the draft law on direct sales, the right of withdrawal for consumers, which is regulated as 14 days in the Law, is set as 30 days in the new draft law to be discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
The adoption of the proposed law on the direct selling system in the Turkish Grand National Assembly could bring about significant changes in the sector. While the new regulations aim to provide a more transparent and organized working environment for direct selling companies and sellers, they also focus on protecting the rights of consumers. In particular, articles such as the obligation for direct selling companies to be capital companies and the 30 days right of withdrawal aim to provide additional assurance to consumers. With the entry into force of the proposed law after it is discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and published in the Official Gazette, a more organized and reliable structure is expected to be established for all stakeholders operating in the direct selling sector.