A draft bill which aims at strengthening consumer safety in the area of electronic trade passed into law in Parliament last Thursday, according to the Zaman newspaper.

The law was part of the government’s internal security reform package and has been pending on the parliamentary agenda for almost two years.

According to the new law, companies will no longer be able to send promotional short messages or emails to consumers without getting their consent first.

If a company’s emails, faxes or phone messages contain things such as advertisements, marketing, political messages or automatic calls with sexually explicit content, unless customers clearly state they approve receiving such materials, it will face paying fines in amounts reaching up to hundreds of thousands of lira.

The new law also says service providers have to clearly present all up-to-date information regarding contracts to customers before these contracts are signed.

A service provider will also have to share with the customer the occupational behavioral code of the chamber it is a member of, as well a means to see the code online.

If the buyer has his or her orders delivered through an online platform, the service provider will have to make sure that the buyer sees the total amount to be paid as well as the conditions of the purchasing contract before final approval for payment is made, according to the new law.

The service provider will verify the receipt as well as the details of the order electronically.