Spanish consumers are in luck. The Council of Ministers approved a reform of consumer law that advocates a circular economy and fights for greater sustainability of electronic devices.
Among other strategies to give products more life, the new consumer regulations stipulate that they must have a three-year warranty (not two as before) and that manufacturers must have spare parts for 10 years.
That’s all you need to know about the new measure.
What is the “right to repair”?
The concept of “right to repair” was born to combat the planned obsolescence of most electronic devices, so that after relatively few years of use they stop working and you are forced to stop working. buy a new one.
In this way, the right to repair could be defined as the right of every citizen to be able to repair a device, alone or by taking it to a specialized repair shop, and thus avoid the unnecessary accumulation of electronic waste.
In March, the European Union took a further step in defending this right by approving a new law guaranteeing the repair of household appliances and other electronic products during their first 10 years of life.
This forces all manufacturers operating within the European Union to have spare parts available for a decade. Electronics companies are also required to include manuals explaining how to repair with conventional tools.
When will the new consumer regulations come into effect?
This Tuesday, April 27, the Council of Ministers approved a royal decree-law on buses which modifies the current law on consumption. However, and according to the Ministry of Consumers, the new regulations will not come into force until January 1, 2022.
Key points of the new consumer law
The new consumer regulations aim to “achieve more sustainable consumption patterns” and represent “another step in the circular economy strategy”. The idea is to give citizens the right to fix and avoid excessive consumerism.
3 years warranty for electronic products
Until now, the warranty period that manufacturers and stores were tied to was two years. They had to come to an agreement to offer these two mandatory years, the custom being that the manufacturer offers the first and stores to cover the rest.
Now, with the approval of the new regulations, this mandatory warranty is extended to three years: this will be the time that the consumer does not have to pay to repair any defect originating from the factory.
In addition, consumers will be able to choose to directly repair or replace that product that has caused technical failure or failed to last undamaged for the first three years.
Obviously, there are some issues that even the warranty doesn’t cover. You might want to read our article on what to do when your computer isn’t working or how to fix a computer remotely.
2 year warranty for digital services
For the first time, the regulation also includes a minimum guarantee for the outsourcing of digital services, even those which are not paid but which are obtained only in exchange for the communication by consumers of their personal data.
In this case, the mandatory warranty is not 3 years, but 2. It includes both social networks and computer programs, applications, digital video games, electronic books and all music, audio files. and video. Open source programs are not included.
10 years of repairs
In addition to the extension of the warranty, the reform of the law also provides that manufacturers have spare parts for their products during their first ten years of life. This is double what is required so far.
This measure, in accordance with European law, responds in particular to this desire to fight against the obsolescence of electronic products, as well as to reduce the impact of this type of waste on the environment.
Lack of extensive contractual compliance
The new law provides for an increase in the time during which a user can exercise his rights as a consumer. In this sense, you have five years (not three) to be able to do so if you are not satisfied with the service offered.
On the other hand, the period of investment of the burden of proof has also been extended to prove this non-compliance with the agreement. Depending on the contractual subject, it will now be one or two years (and not six months as before).
Obviously, all of these changes affect Apple as well.
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