Serbia’s new Consumer Protection Law: what an online store must do - Zephyra Studio

Serbia’s new Consumer Protection Law (Official Gazette RS 35/2026) entered into force on 1 May 2026 and applies from 2 August 2026, except Article 4(1) and Article 6, which apply from entry into force. It replaced the 2021 law (88/21). For an online store it means concrete things on the site: information before the order, an order button that clearly says the buyer is paying, 14 days to withdraw with a refund within 14 days, a visible complaints procedure and a notice about out-of-court dispute resolution. Breaches of the duties on information, withdrawal, refunds and complaints carry a fixed fine of RSD 200,000 for a company (Article 210), and unfair commercial practices such as fake reviews carry up to RSD 2,000,000 (Article 209).

When it applies and what it replaced

Under Article 220 the law enters into force on the eighth day after publication in the Official Gazette and applies three months after entry into force. It entered into force on 1 May, and Paragraf, the legal publisher, states that application starts on 2 August 2026. Two provisions applied immediately: Article 4(1) (which says when a special law applies instead of this one) and Article 6 (price display and the price list, covered below). Article 219 repeals the previous Consumer Protection Law (88/21).

Everything in this guide described as an obligation for an online store already applies, unless stated otherwise. The law provides no transition period for adjusting sites. The transitional provision (Article 215) concerns only proceedings begun before the law applied, which are concluded under the old law.

Secondary legislation is to be adopted within a year of entry into force (Article 216), and until then existing acts apply if they do not conflict with the law (Article 217). That matters for the withdrawal form, covered in the withdrawal section. Article 4(1) also says that where the relationship between consumer and trader is governed by a special law harmonised with European Union law, that special law applies. The list of such laws is set by a Government decision, which we did not check.

Who the law covers: consumer and trader

A consumer is a natural person buying for purposes outside their trade or business. A trader is a legal entity, entrepreneur or natural person acting in the course of their business, including those acting on their behalf (Article 5). A company buying for its own needs is not a consumer and does not get these rights.

A distance contract is one concluded without the simultaneous physical presence of trader and consumer, using only means of distance communication up to and including the moment of conclusion. A webshop is that, and an order agreed entirely through messages can fall under the same definition, if it is part of organised distance selling.

What the site must show before the order

Article 12 lists what a trader must tell the consumer before the contract is concluded, clearly and understandably, in Serbian or the language of a national minority. Article 27 adds obligations for distance contracts. A bilingual or English-language site therefore does not remove the need for a Serbian version of this information.

• The main characteristics of the goods or service.
• Business name, registration number, registered address and telephone number, plus the trading address if different, an email address and other means of communication that let the consumer keep the correspondence (Article 27).
• The price, or how it is calculated if it cannot be fixed in advance, and all additional postal, transport and delivery costs.
• Payment method, delivery method and delivery time.
• The existence of statutory liability for non-conformity and how to make a complaint, including where to submit it and the conditions.
• The conditions, time limit and procedure for withdrawal, the duty to pay reasonable costs where withdrawal follows a service that has begun, and the circumstances in which the right to withdraw is lost.
• Whether there is a contract with a postal operator through which the consumer can send goods at your cost when complaining about non-conformity.
• The possibility of out-of-court dispute resolution.
• Where applicable: the consumer’s duty to bear return costs, the fact that the price is personalised through automated decision-making, contract duration, and after-sales services or commercial guarantees.

What follows if you do not

The consequences are written into the law. If you fail to give the Article 12 information, the consumer can demand annulment of the contract, a right that expires one year after the contract was concluded. The burden of proving you informed the consumer is yours, so what you cannot prove effectively does not exist.

Extra costs have a separate rule in Article 13: the consumer does not have to pay any additional cost, including postage, transport and delivery, unless they gave express consent before being bound. A pre-ticked option the buyer must untick does not count as consent, and if they already paid, they are entitled to a refund. If you fail to inform about delivery costs, the consumer does not bear them (Article 27(6)).

The last step of the order and the button

Article 32 governs the last step. Where an electronically concluded distance contract obliges the consumer to pay, certain information from Articles 12 and 27 (Article 32(4) lists it by point) must be shown clearly and legibly immediately before the order is placed. If submitting the order also accepts the payment obligation, there must be a clear notice of that on the order form or on the button.

If you do not do this, the contract or order does not bind the consumer (Article 32(6)). The law does not prescribe the exact button text. Our suggestion is wording that contains the payment obligation, for example “Order with obligation to pay”, rather than “Continue” or “Confirm”.

On sales pages, at the latest at the start of the ordering process, delivery restrictions and accepted means of payment must be clearly shown (Article 32(7)). The same article requires you to give the consumer, within a reasonable time after the contract and at the latest at delivery, the withdrawal form, the Article 27 information in Serbian and the contract on a durable medium. Under Article 5 a durable medium includes email, so the order confirmation email is the right place for it.

Withdrawal: 14 days, deadlines and the form

A consumer can withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days, without giving a reason and without additional costs other than those in Articles 35 and 36 (Article 29). The statement can be made on the prescribed form or in any other unambiguous way. It is on time if sent within the period, and takes legal effect from the day it is sent. The burden of proving timely withdrawal is on the consumer. If the site lets the consumer fill in the form electronically, you must acknowledge receipt without delay in writing or on a durable medium.

The period is counted under Article 30. For goods, it runs from the day the goods come into the possession of the consumer or a third party the consumer named who is not the carrier. If several goods ordered in one order are delivered separately, or delivery is in several parcels, it runs from the last one. For services it runs from conclusion of the contract.

If you do not inform the consumer of the right to withdraw in the prescribed way, they can withdraw within 12 months from the day the basic period expires. If you give the information within those 12 months, the 14 days run from the day the consumer receives it. In addition, the consumer is not liable for any loss of value of the goods if you did not inform them of the right to withdraw (Article 36(5)).

The form is prescribed by the minister (Article 29(8)). The existing rulebook on the form and content of the withdrawal form was issued by the Ministry of Trade under the previous law. Under Article 217 such secondary acts remain valid until new ones are adopted, if they do not conflict with the new law. Download the current form from the Ministry’s website and check whether it has been replaced.

Refunds, returns and exceptions

The trader refunds everything the consumer paid, including the price and delivery costs, without delay and at the latest 14 days after receiving the withdrawal form (Article 35). The exception is additional costs where the consumer asked for a more expensive delivery than the cheapest usual one you offer. The refund goes to the same payment method, unless the consumer expressly agreed to another. You can wait until the goods arrive or until the consumer proves they were sent, unless you offered to collect them yourself. That is why a refund status with a 14-day deadline is useful in the shop administration.

The consumer returns the goods without delay and at the latest 14 days after sending the form, and the deadline is met if they send the goods before it ends (Article 36). The consumer bears the direct cost of returning, unless you agreed to bear it or did not tell them in advance that they must pay it. They are liable for diminished value only if they handled the goods more than necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning.

Article 38 lists when there is no right to withdraw. The ones that matter most to a shop: goods made to the consumer’s specification or clearly personalised, goods liable to deteriorate or with a short shelf life, sealed goods that cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons and were unsealed after delivery, sealed audio or video recordings or software that were unsealed, newspapers and magazines other than subscriptions, and digital content not on a durable medium where the consumer agreed in advance to performance starting and confirmed they lose the right. You must tell the consumer in advance that the right does not exist (Article 27(1)(6)).

For digital content not delivered on a durable medium, you need prior express consent and confirmation that the consumer knows they lose the right to withdraw (Articles 31 and 32). Without them you cannot rely on the exception and the consumer bears no costs for that delivery (Article 36).

A refund is also a fiscal event. How a refund is recorded is explained in our guide to webshop fiscalisation.

Delivery, risk and lateness

Unless agreed otherwise, you deliver within 30 days of the contract (Articles 33 and 48), and if delivery is impossible you tell the consumer without delay. The delivery time must be written legibly and clearly on the invoice or other contract document (Article 48). Leaving a parcel in front of the door of a house or flat does not count as proper delivery to the address the consumer named.

The risk of accidental loss or damage until handover to the consumer or to a third party they named who is not a carrier lies with the trader (Article 52). A courier company is a carrier, so for a parcel lost or damaged in transit you are responsible, not the buyer.

If you do not deliver by the agreed date, and the date was essential or the buyer stressed it before buying, the contract terminates by law, unless the buyer sets an additional period. After termination you must refund everything paid within five days (Article 51). Failing to do so is a misdemeanour under Article 210.

Conformity and complaints: two years and 30 days

Goods must conform to the contract: the description, quantity, quality and purposes agreed in the contract, plus objective requirements, including quality the consumer can reasonably expect given public statements by the trader or manufacturer, especially in advertising or on labelling (Article 53). The product page description is therefore part of the standard the goods are judged against. A contract term excluding or limiting liability for non-conformity is void (Article 55).

The trader is liable for non-conformity that appears within two years of delivery. If it appears within the first year, it is presumed to have existed at delivery, and the burden of proving otherwise is on the trader (Article 59). For second-hand goods a shorter period can be agreed, but not shorter than one year. The consumer must notify the trader within two months of discovering the non-conformity, and in any case within two years of delivery.

The consumer chooses between repair and replacement, and the trader can refuse the choice only if it is impossible or a disproportionate burden (Article 56). If non-conformity appears within the first 30 days after delivery, the consumer can choose between replacement, an appropriate price reduction and termination of the contract. Remedying is free, including labour, materials and delivery of the replacement. Termination is not possible if the non-conformity is minor, and the burden of proving that is on the trader. If the consumer terminates, they return the goods at the trader’s cost and the trader refunds the price within three days of receiving the goods or proof of dispatch (Article 57).

A commercial guarantee is a separate matter. A guarantee document is given in writing or electronically at the latest at delivery and must contain what Article 61(3) lists. You may not use the term “commercial guarantee” if the consumer gets no more than they are already entitled to by law (Article 62).

How a complaint is received and resolved

Article 63 sets out the procedure. You must accept complaints made orally, by phone, in writing or electronically, with the invoice or other proof of purchase. You may not charge for establishing non-conformity, and the buyer being unable to return the packaging cannot be a reason for refusal. You must display, visibly on the website, a notice of how and where complaints are received. Keep a record of complaints for at least two years and issue a confirmation of receipt or a complaint number without delay.

You answer the consumer without delay and at the latest within eight days of receipt, and the answer must contain the decision, reasons if you refuse, a proposal for how it will be resolved and the deadline. Resolution may not take longer than 15 days, or 30 days for technical goods and furniture, from submission. The deadline can be extended once with the consumer’s consent. If you reject the complaint, you must inform the consumer about out-of-court resolution and the competent bodies.

Out-of-court resolution brings its own duties: the trader must take part in the procedure before the body, and must clearly display on its website a notice that this is a legal obligation (Article 173). The procedure may last at most 90 days, with a possible extension of at most 90 more.

Prices, the price list and discounts

Article 6(1) requires the selling price and unit price to be displayed unambiguously, legibly and conspicuously. Paragraphs 2 to 6 deal with a price list in digital form suitable for automatic processing, updated in real time and also published on the National Open Data Portal. Read from the law alone, that sounds like an obligation on every trader.

The implementing rulebook specifies who it applies to. The Rulebook on the conditions, content and manner of publishing the price list (Official Gazette RS 76/2026) applies from 1 September 2026. It binds retail traders selling the listed categories of goods (among them food, drinks, household chemicals, cosmetics, baby food and pet food) who earned more than three billion dinars in sales in the last business year. A typical small shop outside those categories or below that threshold is not covered by that rulebook. If in doubt, check with an accountant or lawyer.

Everyone else is covered by Article 26(4): if you offer special sales incentives, you must display them clearly, state the conditions and keep to them. Article 41 requires special offers and promotional games to be clearly marked, with conditions that are easy to find. The rules on how the previous price is shown for discounts are not in this law but in trade legislation, which we did not check for this guide.

Advertising, reviews and marketing

Article 20 lists practices that are misleading in every case. The most relevant for a shop are these.

• A false claim that a product will be available only for a short time, to push the buyer into deciding (a fake timer or fake scarcity).
• Presenting rights the consumer already has by law as a special advantage you offer.
• Using “free” or “gratis” for an offer where the consumer bears a cost, other than the unavoidable cost connected with the offer and with collection or delivery.
• Showing search results without a clear label of paid advertising or payment for higher ranking.
• Stating that reviews were written by buyers who actually bought or used the product, without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to verify it.
• Posting fake reviews or commissioning them from others, and misrepresenting reviews.

Direct marketing and unordered goods

Direct advertising by phone, fax and email without the consumer’s prior consent is prohibited (Article 39), and consent lasts until withdrawn. Before advertising you must clearly state the commercial purpose of the message. How newsletter consent is collected on a site is covered in our guide to newsletter consent.

Sending goods or providing a service the consumer did not order, with a demand for payment, is prohibited. The consumer has no obligation to pay and may keep the goods (Article 40). If you offer a phone line for contact about a contract, the call may not be charged above the ordinary call rate (Article 49).

Fines

The obligations in this guide are mostly listed in Article 210. For breaches of provisions (in certain paragraphs) of Articles 6 to 9, 11, 12, 13, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 35, 39 to 42, 48 to 51, 61 to 63 and 173, a legal entity pays RSD 200,000, the responsible person RSD 50,000 and an entrepreneur RSD 100,000.

Unfair commercial practices (Article 17), misleading consumers (Articles 18 to 20) and aggressive practices (Articles 21 and 22) are punished under Article 209: a legal entity RSD 300,000 to 2,000,000, an entrepreneur RSD 50,000 to 500,000 and the responsible person RSD 50,000 to 150,000. Fake reviews belong to this group.

What to ask your store developer and what to check on the site

This is our checklist, derived from the articles above. It is not part of the law, but each item relates to one of its obligations.

• Company details in the footer and on the contact page: business name, registration number, registered address, phone and email.
• Cart and checkout: delivery and extra costs are visible before the obligation, no extras are pre-selected, and delivery restrictions and payment methods appear at the start of ordering.
• The order button clearly says the buyer accepts an obligation to pay.
• The confirmation email carries the withdrawal information and form, and the delivery time.
• A withdrawal and returns page: deadline, procedure, who pays for returning, exceptions, and an electronic form that sends an acknowledgement at once.
• A complaints page: where and how complaints are received, a form that returns a complaint number, deadlines and a record kept for two years.
• A notice about out-of-court dispute resolution in the footer.
• Administration: a refund status with a 14-day deadline, refund by the same payment method and a link to the fiscal refund.
• Reviews: a “verified buyer” label only if you really verify it.
• Product descriptions and discounts are accurate, because the description and the advertisement are part of the contract.

What this guide does not cover

We did not cover digital content and digital services (Articles 73 to 86), online marketplaces (Article 28), package travel, services of general economic interest, or product labelling, which other regulations govern. Fiscalisation of a webshop has its own guide, and the Law on Electronic Commerce basics have another. This is an overview of the law and not legal advice: we read the text of the law on Paragraf Lex, so before launching or changing a shop, check with a lawyer.

In building or changing an online store, these points go into the checkout design, the terms pages and the refund records. If you are building a new store, see our online store development service and the price calculator.

Related guides

Sources

Key takeaways

• Law 35/2026 entered into force on 1 May 2026 and applies from 2 August 2026, while Article 6 (prices) applies from entry into force.
• Before the order you must show the Article 12 and 27 information in Serbian, and the button must clearly say the buyer accepts a payment obligation, otherwise the order does not bind the buyer.
• The buyer withdraws within 14 days and you refund within 14 days of receiving the form. If you did not inform them of the right, it extends up to 12 months.
• Liability for non-conformity lasts two years, in the first 30 days the buyer chooses replacement, price reduction or termination, and you answer a complaint within eight days.
• Breaches of Article 210 duties carry RSD 200,000 for a company, while fake reviews and misleading practices carry up to RSD 2,000,000.

Conclusion

The law asks a webshop for no special software, only accuracy at three moments: before the click on the button, in the email after it and when the goods come back. Part of these duties does not show on the site but in the back office: the 14-day refund deadline, the complaint number and record, and the risk for a parcel lost at the courier. Test the shop by following one order from start to refund with the checklist above.