Russia has sharply tightened the responsibility for imposing additional goods and services on buyers. President Vladimir Putin signed a law increasing fines for such violations to 500 thousand rubles. The document amends Articles 3.5 and 14.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and is published on the official portal of legal acts.
Until now, the punishment for imposing "additional features" was symbolic: 2-4 thousand rubles for officials and 20-40 thousand rubles for legal entities. After the amendments come into force, the fines will increase significantly. For officials and individual entrepreneurs, they will amount to 50 to 150 thousand rubles, and for legal entities - from 200 to 500 thousand rubles.
In practice, the new rules will primarily affect the automotive market. Imposing additional services has long become one of the main complaints of buyers to car dealerships. Clients are often denied the sale of a car without the installation of dealer equipment - alarms, engine protection, anti-corrosion treatment and other paid options.
The relevance of the problem is confirmed by recent incidents. For example, an official Geely dealer in Izhevsk sold a car with body damage to a buyer under the guise of a new one. Despite the identified defects, the client was refused to replace the car, and he intends to seek protection of his rights in court.