Mandatory Warranty 2026: New Risks in Managing Business Customers
A significant change in the regulation of mandatory warranty took effect on March 1, 2026. The practical importance of this amendment lies in the fact that, in certain cases, protection under the more favorable warranty rules now extends beyond consumers in the traditional sense to include micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) acting outside their profession, independent occupation, or business activity. For sellers, this means that the categories of "corporate buyer" and "non-consumer buyer" are no longer automatically synonymous.
What has changed in the legal background?
One of the foundations of this change was the amendment of the Civil Code. A new paragraph (3) was added to Section 6:157 of the Civil Code, stating that the provisions regarding consumers in the chapter on defective performance must also be applied to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises as defined by the SME Act, provided they are acting outside their profession, independent occupation, or business activity. According to the National Legislation Database, this provision was incorporated into the Civil Code by Act LXVII of 2025.
This was followed by an amendment to Government Decree 151/2003 (IX. 22.) on mandatory warranty. As of March 1, 2026, the effective text of the decree explicitly states that its rules must be applied to new durable consumer goods sold under a contract between a business and either a consumer as defined by the Civil Code or an SME acting outside its profession, independent occupation, or business activity. The same decree also specifies that an SME is acting outside its professional scope if it purchases the consumer good within the framework of retail activity as defined by the Trade Act, regardless of whether it accounts for the purchase as part of its economic activity.
What does this actually mean?
The most important practical consequence is that not all business buyers fall outside the scope of consumer protection logic. The amendment does not bring all SMEs into this category across the board, but only those that are not acting within the scope of their own professional or business activity in the given transaction and are acquiring the product through a retail purchase. The reasoning behind Government Decree 415/2025 (XII. 23.) states this even more clearly: wholesale purchases remain entirely outside this scope, while the regulation focuses on cases where the SME appears as an end-user and is not purchasing for the purpose of resale.
From a business perspective, this is important because many companies have operated with a simplified internal logic until now: if the invoice was issued to a company name, the buyer was automatically treated as a non-consumer. Under the system effective from March 1, 2026, this is no longer a safe starting point. The legal classification of the buyer depends not merely on the company form or the invoice details, but on the specific nature of the transaction.
What new risks does this pose for sellers?
The greatest risk lies in the practice of automatic exclusion. If a seller or service provider reflexively treats a business buyer as if no mandatory warranty rules apply to them, they may easily provide incorrect information, unlawfully restrict the buyer's ability to enforce claims, or employ inappropriate contractual and customer service practices. This can subsequently lead to civil law claims, disputes over refunds, reputational damage, and internal process uncertainty.
The amendment forces businesses to make finer distinctions between buyer situations. A traditional reseller, a fleet purchaser, a small business buying for its own use, or a micro-enterprise that accounts for the product in its books but acquires it as an end-user through a retail purchase may all be subject to different assessments. The emphasis is therefore shifting increasingly toward the function of the transaction rather than just the designation of the buyer.
Other practical changes in warranty administration
The amendments effective from March 1, 2026, do not only affect the personal scope. In the absence of a serial number, other product identifiers recorded in the business's registry may now be indicated on the warranty card. Furthermore, if the business does not yet know the exact date of delivery or commissioning when issuing the warranty card, the person handing over or commissioning the product may add it later. The decree also stipulates that the warranty card must include the name, address, and telephone and electronic contact details of the repair service, if available. Another change is that, as a general rule, businesses are not required to issue a separate warranty card for items under 100,000 HUF, although certain information must still be provided in such cases.
While these amendments are primarily administrative in nature, they can still be significant in practice. Warranty entitlements extending to a wider range of buyers can only be managed effectively if documentation, the handover process, service contacts, and internal records accurately follow the amended rules.
The practical significance of the change in the vehicle sales sector
The amendment is particularly sensitive in vehicle sales. It is common here for the buyer to be a micro or small enterprise that acquires the vehicle not for resale or traditional commercial purposes, but for its own use, executive use, client relations, or to support the daily operations of the business. In such cases, the previous, simplified "corporate buyer = non-consumer" logic can easily be misleading.
At the same time, an important limitation in the vehicle sector is that the special mechanisms for replacement or purchase price refunds within eight days, as contained in Section 5 (5)–(7) of Government Decree 151/2003, do not apply to several vehicle categories, such as passenger cars, motorcycles, motorhomes, and trailers. This means that the partial "consumer-like" treatment of SME buyers in the vehicle sector does not lead to the full application of the replacement/refund logic common for household durable consumer goods. The change is more significant regarding the existence of mandatory warranty, information and administrative obligations, and the starting points for claim enforcement.
For vehicle importers and brand dealerships, it is therefore particularly important to review standard documentation, sales protocols, and dealer network training. It is advisable not to conclude buyer classification issues at the level of invoice issuance, but to think them through more consciously, especially where smaller companies, sole proprietorships, or mixed usage patterns are involved.
What is worth reviewing now?
In the current regulatory environment, it is worth reviewing general terms and conditions, warranty information sheets, customer classification logic, complaint handling and service processes, and templates used by sales staff. The main question is whether the business is capable of identifying cases where an SME buyer appears not as a classic business purchaser, but in a situation approaching that of a consumer according to the logic of the regulation. If there is no internal process for this, legal application will almost inevitably be arbitrary.
It is also worth noting that this amendment does not automatically mean that every such case becomes a consumer protection authority matter. The reasoning behind the amending decree explicitly states that the consumer protection authority's jurisdiction continues to cover legal relationships between consumers and businesses as defined by the Civil Code, while warranty disputes between businesses are not automatically brought before the authority. This is also an important distinction from the perspective of legal enforcement strategy.
Summary
The rules effective from March 1, 2026, do not make every SME a consumer. However, they clearly signal to the market that for certain retail purchases, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises can no longer be automatically treated according to classic B2B logic. For businesses with many smaller corporate customers, this can have contractual, operational, and risk management consequences even in the short term. Those who adapt their documentation and practices in time are likely to not only prevent legal disputes but also develop a more transparent and defensible sales model.