Montenegro’s Ministry of Economic Development opened a public consultation on 2 September 2026 on a draft proposing 10 consumer-law changes covering repairs, online purchases, advertising and financial services. The proposals are intended to make it easier for consumers to repair devices, withdraw from online purchases and identify misleading claims, with new duties for manufacturers and traders if adopted.
The consultation report was published on 2 October 2026. The draft is not a set of rights already in force: Montenegro’s current Consumer Protection Law applies, although some individual provisions are deferred until the country joins the European Union.
If adopted as drafted, the amendments would take effect on the eighth day after publication, rather than waiting as a package until EU accession. The final obligations, deadlines and transitional arrangements will depend on the adopted text and any necessary secondary regulations.
Online withdrawal and financial services
Traders would have to provide an easily accessible function for consumers to withdraw unilaterally from a contract concluded through an online interface. Through the function, buyers would submit an electronic withdrawal statement, confirm their decision and receive confirmation showing the date and time it was submitted.
The function would have to remain available throughout the legal withdrawal period. It would not create an unrestricted right to end any contract at any time; it is intended to make it easier to exercise existing withdrawal rights under the applicable conditions and exceptions.
For financial services arranged through an online tool, consumers could request help from a person during the pre-contractual stage and, in justified cases, after the contract was concluded. The draft would also address manipulative design, including intrusive pop-up windows, interfaces that favour certain choices and situations where cancellation is harder than subscribing.
Pre-contract information for financial services would also have to disclose when a price had been personalised through automated decision-making. Some financial products are already governed by specific sector regulations, according to the draft’s context.
Repair rights and service pricing
Manufacturers would have to repair certain products at a consumer’s request even after the seller’s legal period of responsibility for conformity with the contract had expired. The duty would cover products subject to relevant repairability rules, would not apply when repair was impossible and is based on European right-to-repair rules.
A repair after the seller’s responsibility period would not have to be free. Manufacturers could provide it free of charge or at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time. They could not refuse a repair covered by the new duty solely because another repairer had previously worked on the product.
Where a defect was repaired during the seller’s legal responsibility period, that period would be extended once by 12 months. Traders would have to tell buyers about their statutory choice between repair and replacement and the possible extension of protection. During the consultation, the Ministry accepted a clarification to the wording on that extension.
The draft would prohibit unjustified contractual, hardware and software barriers to servicing. Independent repairers could use suitable used or compatible parts, subject to safety requirements and intellectual property rights. Spare parts and tools would have to be offered at a reasonable price that did not deter consumers from having products repaired.
A proposed European Repair Information Form would set out the fault, the repair price or how it would be calculated, the time needed and any additional costs. Its use by repairers would be voluntary, but a repairer who supplied one could not change the offered terms for at least 30 calendar days and would have to fulfil an offer accepted by the consumer.
The form itself would be free. A repairer could charge for justified diagnostic work if the consumer had been informed beforehand. The draft says the information would help buyers compare offers from different repair services.
Product information and advertising
Before purchase, consumers would receive clearer information about the seller’s legal responsibility for conformity and any longer commercial durability guarantee offered by a manufacturer under the prescribed conditions. Other proposed disclosures include software support periods, repairability ratings, spare parts and servicing restrictions.
The information required would depend in part on the product type and on what the manufacturer had supplied to the trader. The proposals are intended to give buyers a better basis for assessing whether a device is worthwhile over several years of use.
Traders could not withhold information that a software update would negatively affect a device, digital content or service. An update that only improved functionality could not be presented as necessary. The draft would require clearer information about the effects of installing updates and what they actually provide.
False claims about product durability would be prohibited. Separately, traders could not falsely claim that a product was repairable when repair was not possible. The proposed banned practices also include encouraging consumers to replace consumables prematurely and falsely warning that compatible parts or accessories would impair a product’s functionality.
Advertising goods with a feature designed to limit durability would be covered when the trader had information about the feature and its consequences. The draft also proposes tighter rules against misleading environmental advertising, or greenwashing.
General claims that a product is environmentally friendly would be prohibited without appropriate evidence, as would unreliable sustainability labels. Traders could not present an entire product as environmentally friendly based on only one of its properties. The draft would specifically restrict claims that a product is climate-neutral when those claims rely on emissions compensation.
The proposals remain under preparation and should not be treated as rights that have all taken effect. The eventual duties and timing will depend on the final law and any required secondary rules.
