In brief
On 6 November 2023, State Law No. 17,832 of 1 November 2023 was published in the Official Gazette of the State of Sao Paulo, creating the “Consolidation of the State’s Consumer Protection Laws,” which aims to unify the main laws that protect consumer rights in the state, bringing them together in a single document to facilitate legislative consultation.
Details
State Law No. 17.832/2023 is based on Bill of Law No. 81/2023, which consolidated more than 70 existing laws protecting consumer rights in Sao Paulo.
The consolidation of laws into a single document helps facilitate legislative consultation and protect consumer rights as it promotes greater legal certainty and knowledge of local legislation by consumers.
Although it does not introduce any legal innovations or propose changes to existing consumer protection laws, the law reiterates the provisions of the Brazilian Consumer Defense Code (Federal Law No. 8.078/1990) and consolidates the rules in various industries, including rules concerning the provision of continuous electricity, water and gas, and banking and financial services.
The state law also unifies state legislation on the packaging and labeling of genetically modified foods, the sale of pills and tablets by the unit in pharmacies, the use of meal vouchers as a form of payment, and the rules on registration to block telemarketing calls.
Moreover, the law seeks to segment, in specific chapters, the existing duties, obligations and administrative sanctions to which suppliers are subject in accordance with the various sectors in which they operate, such as hotels, bars and restaurants; paid television, mobile telephone and internet service providers; telemarketing service providers; pharmacies; gas stations; transportation; public and private parking lots and providers of vehicle maneuvering and storage services; and promoters of sporting events.
The consolidation of consumer protection rules in the State of Sao Paulo repeals, without modifying the scope or interrupting the normative force, all the laws that were unified.
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