Version of the Requirements for the content of advertising materials (ceased to be in force June 1, 2017)

1. General Provisions (The Act)

These requirements for the content of advertising materials regulate the publishing of advertisements via 2GIS Products.
The essential elements and regulation of advertising are governed by Act No. 103(I)/2007, Law concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices (“The Act”).

The Act provides the following definitions:

(a) ‘consumer’ means any natural person who, in commercial practices covered by the Act, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession;

(b) ‘trader’ means any natural or legal person who, in commercial practices covered by this Act, is acting for purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession and anyone acting in the name of or on behalf of a trader;

(d) ‘business-to-consumer commercial practices’(hereinafter also referred to as commercial practices) means any act, omission, course of conduct or representation, commercial communication including advertising and marketing, by a trader, directly connected with the promotion, sale or supply of a product to consumers;

(e) ‘to materially distort the economic behaviour of consumers’ meansusing a commercial practice to appreciably impair the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision, thereby causing the consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise;

(f) ‘code of conduct’ means an agreement or set of rules not imposed by law, regulation or administrative provision of a Member State which defines the behaviour of traders who undertake to be bound by the code in relation to one or more particular commercial practices or business sectors

(g) Code owner’ means any entity, including a trader or group of traders, which is responsible for the formulation and revision of a code of conduct and/or for monitoring compliance with the code by those who have undertaken to be bound by it;

(h) ‘professional diligence’ means the standard of special skill and care which a trader may reasonably be expected to exercise towards consumers, commensurate with honest market practice and/or the general principle of good faith in the trader’s field of activity;

(i) ‘invitation to purchase’ means a commercial communication which indicates characteristics of the product and the price in a way appropriate to the means of the commercial communication used and thereby enables the consumer to make a purchase;

(j) ‘undue influence’ means exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer so as to apply pressure, even without using or threatening to use physical force, in a way which significantly limits the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision;

(k) ‘transactional decision’ means any decision taken by a consumer concerning whether, how and on what terms to purchase, make payment in whole or in part for, retain or dispose of a product or to exercise a contractual right in relation to the product, whether the consumer decides to act or to refrain from acting;

(l) regulated profession’ means a professional activity or a group of professional activities, access to which or the pursuit of which, or one of the modes of pursuing which, is conditional, directly or indirectly, upon possession of specific professional qualifications, pursuant to laws, regulations or administrative provisions

The Act forbids, by section 4(1), unfair commercial practices, (unfair advertising), i.e. advertising that:

1. is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence,

2. materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the average consumer whom it reaches or to whom it is addressed, or of the average member of the group when a commercial practice is directed to a particular group of consumers.

3. is misleading as set out in sections 5 and 6, or

4. is aggressive as set out in sections 7 and 8.

Misleading commercial practices (misleading advertising)

Misleading actions in advertisements

1. A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, even if the information is factually correct, in relation to one or more of the following elements, and in either case causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise:

(a) the existence or nature of the product;

(b) the main characteristics of the product, such as its availability, benefits, risks, execution, composition, accessories, after-sale customer assistance and complaint handling, method and date of manufacture or provision, delivery, fitness for purpose, usage, quantity, specification, geographical or commercial origin or the results to be expected from its use, or the results and material features of tests or checks carried out on the product;

(c) the extent of the trader’s commitments, the motives for the commercial practice and the nature of the sales process, any statement or symbol in relation to direct or indirect sponsorship or approval of the trader or the product;

(d) the price or the manner in which the price is calculated, or the existence of a specific price advantage;

(e) ) the need for a service, part, replacement or repair;

(f) the nature, attributes and rights of the trader or his agent, such as his identity and assets, his qualifications, status, approval, affiliation or connection and ownership of industrial, commercial or intellectual property rights or his awards and distinctions;

(g) the consumer’s rights, including the right to replacement or reimbursement under the law on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees or the risks he may face.

2. A commercial practice shall also be regarded as misleading if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances, it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise, and it involves:

(a) any marketing of a product, including comparative advertising, which creates confusion with any products, trademarks, trade names or other distinguishing marks of a competitor;

(b) non-compliance by the trader with commitments contained in codes of conduct by which the trader has undertaken to be bound, where:

(i) the commitment is not aspirational but is firm and is capable of being verified,

and

(ii) the trader indicates in a commercial practice that he is bound by the code.

Misleading omissions in advertisements

1. A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances and the limitations of the communication medium, it omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision and thereby causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

2.It shall also be regarded as a misleading omission when, taking account of the matters described in paragraph 1, a trader hides or provides in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner such material information as referred to in that paragraph or fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context, and where, in either case, this causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

3. Where the medium used to communicate the commercial practice imposes limitations of space or time, these limitations and any measures taken by the trader to make the information available to consumers by other means shall be taken into account in deciding whether information has been omitted

4. In the case of an invitation to purchase, the following information shall be regarded as material , if not already apparent from the context:

a. the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product

b. the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting;

c. the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable;

d. the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy, if they depart from the requirements of professional diligence;

e. for products and transactions involving a right of withdrawal or cancellation, the existence of such a right.

Aggressive commercial practices (Aggressive advertising)

Aggressive commercial practices

A commercial practice shall be regarded as aggressive if, in its factual context, taking account of all its features and circumstances, by harassment, coercion, including the use of physical force, or undue influence, it significantly impairs or is likely to significantly impair the average consumer’s freedom of choice or conduct with regard to the product and thereby causes him or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise.

Use of harassment, coercion and undue influence

In determining whether a commercial practice uses harassment, coercion, including the use of physical force, or undue influence, account shall be taken of:

a.   its timing, location, nature or persistence

b.   the use of threatening or abusive language or behavior

c.   the exploitation by the trader of any specific misfortune or circumstance of such gravity as to impair the consumer’s judgement, of which the trader is aware, to influence the consumer’s decision with regard to the product;

d.   any onerous or disproportionate non-contractual barriers imposed by the trader where a consumer wishes to exercise rights under the contract, including rights to terminate a contract or to switch to another product or another trader;

e.   any threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken

The Act specifically considers and thereby forbids the following commercial practices in advertising as unfair and prohibited

Misleading commercial practices

1. Claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct when the trader is not.

2. Displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without having obtained the necessary authorisation.

3. Claiming that a code of conduct has an endorsement from a public or other body which it does not have.

4. Claiming that a trader (including his commercial practices) or a product has been approved, endorsed or authorized by a public or private body when he/it has not or making such a claim without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation.

5. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price without disclosing the existence of any reasonable grounds the trader may have for believing that he will not be able to offer for supply or to procure another trader to supply, those products or equivalent products at that price for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable having regard to the product, the scale of advertising of the product and the price offered (bait advertising).

6. Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then:

a. refusing to show the advertised item to consumers;

b. refusing to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time;

c. demonstrating a defective sample of it,

with the intention of promoting a different product (bait and switch)

7. Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will only be available on particular terms for a very limited time, in order to elicit an immediate decision and deprive consumers of sufficient opportunity or time to make an informed choice.

8. Undertaking to provide after-sales service to consumers with whom the trader has communicated prior to a transaction in a language which is not an official language of the Member State where the trader is located and then making such service available only in another language without clearly disclosing this to the consumer before the consumer is committed to the transaction.

9. Stating or otherwise creating the impression that a product can legally be sold when it cannot

2. The Code on Advertising Practice (the Code)

Further elements of advertising in Cyprus are regulated by the Code on Advertising Practice (the Code) of the Cyprus Advertising Regulation Organisation.

Basic principles

a. All marketing communication should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

b. All marketing communication should be prepared with a due sense of social responsibility and should conform to existing law and the principles of fair competition, as generally accepted in business.

c. No communication should be such as to impair public confidence in advertising.

Decency

Marketing communication should not contain statements or audio/visual treatments which offend culture and currently prevailing standards of decency.

Honesty

a. Marketing communication should be so framed as not to abuse the trust of consumers or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge.

b. Relevant factors likely to affect the final decision of the consumer should be communicated clearly and at such a time that consumers can take them into account.

Social responsibility

a. Marketing communication should respect human dignity and should not contain or imply any form of discrimination, including that b