Corporate and M&A

The new legal regime for consumer protection in the purchase and sale of consumer goods (including real estate and digital content or services), Decree-Law 84/2021 of 18 October has been published, which revokes Decree-Law 67/2003, and will enter into force on 1 January 2022.

Among the changes introduced by the new regime, we would like to highlight the following:

• Consumer protection mechanisms in the event of lack of conformity, where the consumer may initially choose between replacement of the goods purchased or their repair, in cases where repair or replacement are impossible or incur disproportionate costs for the seller;
• The right to reject, with the consumer being able to report the defect within a certain period of time after becoming aware of it;
• The establishment of a general legal warranty of 3 years, which may be reduced to 18 months by agreement of the parties in cases of sale of second-hand and non-reconditioned movable goods;
• The commercial warranty regime (voluntary warranty in the previous regime) now stipulates that if the product is advertised with different conditions from those in the commercial warranty, the conditions that are more favourable to the consumer will apply;
• The mandatory existence of post-sale services and availability of spare parts by the producers of goods for a period of 10 years after the last unit of the respective good has been placed on the market, with specificities in the regime for mobile goods subject to registration and for digital goods or services;
• The joint and several liability of entities that provide digital platforms to producers of goods and/or services, vis-à-vis the consumer, for the lack of conformity of the goods or services provided;