A Consumer Court is a civil court of first instance with a “specialized court” status, responsible for handling lawsuits arising from consumer transactions and all types of practices directed toward consumers.
The jurisdiction and establishment of these courts are determined by Law No. 6502 on the Protection of the Consumer. Lawsuits in consumer courts may be filed by “consumers,” “consumer organizations,” and the “Ministry of Customs and Trade.” Lawsuits filed by the Ministry, consumers, and consumer organizations before consumer courts are exempt from court fees (harçtan muaftır).
Who is a Consumer? What is a Consumer Transaction?
For a dispute to fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Court, at least one of the parties must be a “consumer.”
Consumer: A natural or legal person acting for purposes that are not commercial or professional. Law No. 6502 protects those who purchase a ready-made good or service for daily use. For example, if a person buys a razor to shave at home, they are a consumer; if they buy the same razor to sell in their market, they are not a consumer.
Consumer Transaction: Any kind of contract or legal transaction established between consumers and natural or legal persons acting for commercial or professional purposes (including public legal entities) in the markets of goods or services.
Jurisdictional Limits (Mandatory Arbitration)
Before filing a lawsuit in Consumer Court, the dispute must exceed a certain monetary threshold. If the dispute value is below these limits, an application must first be made to the Consumer Arbitration Committee (Tüketici Hakem Heyeti).
For 2017 (as per the shared text), the limits were:
Below 2,400 TL: District Consumer Arbitration Committees.
Between 2,400 TL and 3,610 TL (in Metropolitan Municipalities): Provincial Consumer Arbitration Committees.
Above these values: A lawsuit must be filed directly in Consumer Court.
Decisions made by the Arbitration Committees are binding. Parties may appeal these decisions to the Consumer Court within 15 days of notification. The decision rendered by the Consumer Court upon such an appeal is final.
Duties of the Consumer Court
The court handles disputes arising from various contracts established between a consumer and a professional seller/provider, including:
Construction/Work Contracts (Eser sözleşmesi),
Transportation Contracts,
Brokerage (Simsarlık) Contracts,
Insurance Contracts,
Agency/Proxy (Vekâlet) Contracts,
Banking Contracts.