Repair and maintenance work that is not covered by warranty does not need to be carried out by authorised repairers

The Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) draws the attention to the fact that the agreements entered into between the suppliers/importers and authorised repairers may be caught by Article 8 of the Croatian Competition Act regulating prohibited agreements, where the manufacturer’s warranty is made conditional on the end user having repair and maintenance work that is not covered by warranty carried out only within the authorised repair networks.

In other words, this obligation including repair and maintenance work of motor vehicle parts covered by warranty raises no concern. However, it is prohibited to make it conditional on the end user having repair and maintenance work that is not covered by warranty carried out only within the authorised repair networks.

Thus, the users of repair services for motor vehicles may decide to have their motor vehicle parts not covered by warranty repaired also by unauthorised repairers, not dreading voiding of the warranty.

This is also stated in paragraph 69 of the Commission notice — Supplementary guidelines on vertical restraints in agreements for the sale and repair of motor vehicles and for the distribution of spare parts for motor vehicles. Namely, the criteria set forth under the EU legal framework are adequately applied by the CCA in case of legal voids or misinterpretations of rules.

Therefore, the CCA calls for the users of maintenance and repair services for motor vehicles that have experienced the above described behaviour and if they have been conditioned by authorised repairers to carry out repairs that are not covered by warranty exclusively by authorised repair networks in order to keep the warranty, to notify the Agency thereof.