Advertising Board Imposes 32 Million Lira Fine for Deceptive Promotions
· Sabah Ekonomi
The Ministry of Commerce's Advertising Board has imposed a total administrative fine of 32 million 683 thousand lira on 87 cases involving deceptive advertising and unfair commercial practices.
Record Fine Decision from the Advertising Board
The Advertising Board, operating under the Ministry of Commerce, continues its relentless inspections against commercial practices that mislead consumers and lead to unfair competition. At the Board's 372nd meeting held on August 13, 2026, a total administrative fine of 32,683,631 TL was imposed on 87 out of 105 cases reviewed that were found to be in violation of regulations. According to Ministry of Commerce data, approximately 26,000 applications were evaluated in the first eight months of 2026. In this scope, the total fine imposed on deceptive advertising and unfair commercial practices reached 218,478,014 TL.
Heavy Sanction for Firm Blocking Reviews
One of the significant cases on the Board's agenda concerned the blocking of consumer reviews on online shopping sites. The failure to publish negative comments made by consumers about purchased products, under the claim of violating company rules without providing concrete justification, was deemed an unfair commercial practice. The direct rejection of reviews that could have been published by changing their evaluation category, thereby shifting responsibility to the consumer, was found to be in violation of regulations. The Advertising Board imposed an administrative fine of 2,167,412 TL on the relevant e-commerce company for restricting the consumer's right to information.
Fake Restaurant Scheme in Food Orders
During inspections conducted on online food ordering platforms, organized practices aimed at deceiving consumers were identified. It was determined that dozens of different business names and fake address registrations were created on the platform, despite there being only a single physical restaurant. This method, which created the perception among consumers that there were many independent businesses, led to manipulation in producer information and product ratings. Due to this misleading system that created an environment of unfair competition, the Advertising Board issued administrative sanctions against the two relevant intermediary companies.
Inspection of Misleading Content on Food Packaging
In inspections targeting packaging fraud within the food sector, a dessert product offered in the market was scrutinized. Laboratory and content analyses revealed that the product, which prominently featured visuals of hazelnuts, pistachios, and apricot kernels on its packaging, contained these raw ingredients at rates of 4%, 3%, and 3% respectively. The fact that the product contained peanuts at a dominant rate of 49.5% without this information being disclosed on the packaging was found to be misleading to consumers. The Ministry announced that an administrative fine was imposed on the firm that violated the rule of honesty in food ingredients.