Advertising Board Fines 277.6 Million TL for Deceptive Advertising and Unfair Trade Practices
The last meeting of the Advertising Board of the Forex was held on December 12, 2024, to examine advertisements that deceive consumers, exploit lack of experience and knowledge, and unfair commercial practices.
In a written statement by the Ministry of Trade, it was stated: "During the meeting, 196 out of 213 cases from November were found to be in violation of the regulations, and it was decided to impose an administrative fine totaling 54.3 million TL, along with a suspension penalty for the relevant advertisements and commercial practices. The Advertising Board also decided to block access to the websites in 35 cases where violations were detected.
Thus, a total of 1,917 cases were reviewed and evaluated by the Advertising Board in 2024. For the 1,705 cases identified as containing deceptive advertisements or unfair commercial practices, it was decided to impose a suspension penalty along with a total administrative fine of 277.6 million TL.
Inspections regarding discounted sales campaigns are ongoing.
Particularly, investigations into discounted sales advertisements offered to consumers under various campaign names such as "Legendary November," "Black Friday," and "Fabulous Friday," held significant importance on the agenda of the Advertising Board. In this context, 64 cases regarding the November discounts of 2024 were processed based on proactive measures or complaint applications. As a result of the evaluations made by the Board, 57 cases were found to be in violation of the regulations, and an administrative fine totaling 27.4 million TL was imposed. Accordingly, in 2024, a total administrative fine of 41.3 million TL was applied to advertisements found to be in violation of regulations related to discounted sales campaigns.
With these investigations during the discount periods, in which consumer grievances have increased, the following goals are sought:
- To prevent the manipulation of consumers’ shopping preferences by creating a false perception of discounts through shadow prices that are misleadingly inflated.
- To address the waste resulting from the improper use of our country’s economic resources caused by the inability to accurately conduct a need/benefit analysis due to marketing practices that put pressure on consumer decisions, such as creating a perception of higher discounts than actually offered and the limited validity of discounted prices.
- To establish fair market conditions in a stable economy and competition to prevent potential harm from unfair competition on consumers and other firms.
Significant decisions have been made against illegal betting advertisements.
On the other hand, based on the legislative provisions aimed at protecting consumers, it was decided to impose administrative fines of 6 million TL and suspensions for advertisements determined to promote illegal betting sites.
The investigations of the Advertising Board, operating under the Ministry of Trade, continue concerning deceptive advertisements and unfair commercial practices encountered in various sectors.