More than 1 million TL fine for fake discount

The Ministry of Commerce imposed an administrative fine on an online shopping platform that applied fake discounts. The platform was selling products with the phrases "lowest price of 14 days" and "80% discount in the cart". Thus, the penalty amount became 1 million 83 thousand 706 TL.

Phrases such as "big discount" that we encounter when shopping online are not always as innocent as they seem. For this reason, the ministry constantly monitors the companies. In addition, inspections to protect consumers continue.

How Did the Fake Discount Appear?

According to the statement of Bekir Kaplan, Press and Public Relations Advisor of the Ministry of Commerce, the platform, whose name was not shared, was offering various products with these labels. However, technical studies showed that the discounts remained on paper. Therefore, the process progressed to administrative sanction.

Ministry officials determined that the products were not actually sold at the high prices announced as pre-discount prices. Moreover, it has been recorded that the prices offered as "discounted" are not specific to a certain period, but are applied continuously. Therefore, the discount discourse did not reflect reality.

This means that the old price is artificially inflated. Then the normal price is disguised as a "discount". On the other hand, the authorities evaluated that this method creates a perception of price advantage in the consumer that does not actually exist.

Advertising Board Decision and Sanctions

The administrative sanction process against misleading pricing was quickly initiated. The Advertising Board made its decision at its meeting dated 10 September 2026 and numbered 373. Within the scope of this decision, an administrative fine of 1 million 83 thousand 706 TL was imposed on the company.

However, the board ruled that the platform's misleading advertisements should be stopped. Thus, it was aimed to prevent further misdirection of consumers. As a matter of fact, the decision includes both fines and suspension of advertisements.

The highlights of the decision are as follows:

Applicable discount phrases: "lowest price in 14 days" and "80% discount in cart"

Penalty amount: 1 million 83 thousand 706 TL

Decision date: September 10, 2026, Advertising Board meeting numbered 373

Additional sanction: Stopping misleading advertisements

Finally, within the scope of the board's decision, misleading advertisements of the platform were stopped. In addition, a penalty of 1 million 83 thousand 706 TL was processed. However, the name of the platform was not shared with the public.