חוק הגנת הצרכן (תיקון מס' 66), התשפ"ג-2023Consumer Protection Law (Amendment No. 66), 2023 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The amendment to the Law was enacted against the backdrop of recurring phenomena of scamming and exploitation of senior citizens and other vulnerable consumers through aggressive marketing methods that involve misleading the consumer, exerting unfair influence on the consumer, or other violations of the Consumer Protection Law, 1981. The Law, in its wording prior to the amendment, authorizes the Commissioner of Consumer Protection and Fair Trade (hereinafter - the Commissioner) to impose a financial sanction for a violation of the provisions of the Law, and if the violation was committed under aggravating circumstances (which include only violations concerning an especially large number of consumers), the amount of the financial sanction shall be one and a half times the original amount that may be imposed for that violation. The amendment to the Law expands the definition of a violation under aggravating circumstances to also include a violation of a provision of the Law listed in the Seventh Schedule to the Law, committed against a consumer who is a senior citizen, a new immigrant, a minor, a person who is apparently in a state of mental, emotional or physical weakness, or a person who apparently does not sufficiently understand the language in which the transaction was conducted for the purpose of entering into the transaction. The Seventh Schedule includes violations for which a financial sanction may be imposed under aggravating circumstances, including, among others, violations concerning the misleading of a consumer and violations concerning the cancellation of a transaction. Under the amendment to the Law, the Minister of Economy and Industry, with the approval of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, may amend the said Schedule by order. However, the Commissioner will be permitted to impose a financial sanction under such aggravating circumstances only in accordance with procedures to be issued by the Commissioner. These procedures will require the approval of the Attorney General and will be published on the website of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. In addition, the amendment to the Law increases the amount of the financial sanction that may be imposed for exerting unfair influence on consumers by exploiting a consumer's mental, intellectual or physical disability, or by exploiting the fact that a consumer does not sufficiently understand the language in which the transaction is conducted. Accordingly, the amendment to the Law created a new tier of sanction amount - the highest that may be imposed under the Law, such that the amount for an individual will stand at approximately NIS 38,000 and for a corporation - approximately NIS 69,000. It is further established that, as part of a notice of intent to impose a sanction, which the Commissioner provides to the violator prior to imposing a financial sanction on them, the Commissioner shall detail the aggravating circumstances relating to the violation, if any. Accordingly, the right to a hearing granted to the violator under the Law shall also apply to claims regarding the existence of aggravating circumstances.

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Meirav Cohen, Orna Barbivay, David Bitan