The Omnibus Directive adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU at the end of 2019 introduced material changes to consumer protection laws across the EU and the new legislation has already been implemented in Hungary.
One key change is the regulation of consumer reviews. If traders provide access to consumer reviews of products, they should inform consumers whether procedures are in place to ensure that the published reviews originate from consumers who have actually used or purchased the products. If such procedures are in place, traders should provide information on how the checks are made and provide clear information to consumers on how reviews are processed.
Moreover, it should therefore be considered to be an unfair commercial practice to mislead consumers by stating that reviews of a product were submitted by consumers who actually used or purchased that product when no reasonable and proportionate steps were taken to ensure that they originate from such consumers. Such steps could include technical means to verify the reliability of the person posting a review, for example, by requesting information to verify that the consumer has actually used or purchased the product.
To comply fully with the new regulations and avoid increased fines for infringements of consumer rights, businesses need to adapt and take the appropriate steps and measures.