The Ministry of Commerce announced the audit results for the first 8 months of 2026 within the scope of regulating the domestic market, protecting consumers and combating unfair commercial practices. According to the Ministry's data, 321 thousand 911 companies and 39 million 243 thousand 67 products were inspected in the January-August period, and a total of 2.24 billion TL administrative fines were imposed on businesses that were found to be in violation.
692 MILLION TL FINE FOR STOCKHOLDING AND EXORBITATIVE PRICES
54 thousand 823 real and legal persons were inspected by the General Directorate of Domestic Trade of the Ministry of Commerce in 2026 within the scope of automotive, stockpiling, real estate, jewellery, exorbitant prices, unfair commercial practices and payment periods.
As a result of the inspections, a total of 692 million 28 thousand TL administrative fines were imposed on 5 thousand 574 real and legal persons who committed illegal acts.
In this context, administrative fines of 399 million 546 thousand TL were imposed in exorbitant price inspections, 142 million 630 thousand TL in the automotive sector, 39 million 28 thousand TL in the real estate sector, and 13 million 122 thousand TL in the jewelery sector.
The administrative fine imposed during inspections regarding commercial electronic messages, working hours and licensed warehouses was 91 million 842 thousand TL.
771 MILLION TL FINE IN CONSUMER INSPECTIONS
37 thousand 445 companies were inspected by the General Directorate of Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance in the first 8 months of 2026. Administrative fines of approximately 771 million TL were imposed on 1,342 companies that were found to be in violation.
Audits; It covered contracts to which consumers are parties, such as prepaid housing sales, subscription contracts, distance sales contracts, installment sales payments, package tours and timeshares, as well as advertising, unfair commercial practices and product safety.
In these inspections, administrative fines of 540 million 144 thousand TL were imposed due to violations in the contracts to which consumers are parties, 218 million 478 thousand TL within the scope of advertising and unfair commercial practice inspections, and 12 million 471 thousand TL for product safety inspections carried out within the scope of market surveillance and control.
229 THOUSAND COMPANIES WERE INSPECTED IN 81 PROVINCES
229 thousand 643 companies were inspected in the first 8 months of 2026 through the Provincial Directorates of Commerce in 81 provinces affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.
As a result of the inspections, administrative fines of 777 million 631 thousand TL were imposed on 47 thousand 474 companies. Approximately 39 million products were inspected in the same period.
Ankara, Istanbul and Antalya stood out among the provinces where the most product inspections were carried out on a provincial basis. 14 million 514 thousand 943 products were inspected in Ankara, 5 million 151 thousand 297 in Istanbul and 4 million 425 thousand 23 products in Antalya.
In Istanbul, an administrative fine of 578 million 534 thousand TL was imposed on 123 thousand 759 products that were found to be in violation.
39 THOUSAND 758 COMPANIES WERE INSPECTED IN AUGUST
Only in August 2026, 39 thousand 758 companies and 4 million 964 thousand 776 products were inspected by the central and provincial organization of the Ministry of Commerce.
A total of 366 million 584 thousand TL administrative fines were imposed on 8 thousand 951 businesses that were found to be in violation of the legislation.
THE COMPETITION AUTHORITY ALSO IMPOSED A FINE OF 19.7 BILLION TL
The activities of the Competition Authority were also included in the balance sheet of the Ministry.
Accordingly, the Competition Authority imposed an administrative fine of 13 billion 230 million 770 thousand TL on 227 companies in 2025, and an administrative fine of 19 billion 700 million TL on 248 companies operating in various fields, especially labor markets, information technologies and platform services, automotive sector and food industry, in the first 8 months of 2026.
The Ministry of Commerce stated that inspections will continue to ensure domestic market balance and protect consumers, primarily by combating inflation, exorbitant prices, hoarding and unfair commercial actions.
