Right to repair: what applies from 1 October 2026

On 29 July 2026 the Goods Repair Directive Implementation Act (Warenreparaturrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz, WaRUG) was published as BGBl. I Nr. 60/2026. It amends the Consumer Protection Act (KSchG), the Consumer Warranty Act (VGG) and the Consumer Authorities Cooperation Act, implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1799. The new provisions enter into force on 1 October 2026; the warranty changes apply to contracts concluded after 30 September 2026.

Manufacturers must repair, even after the warranty period

The new § 9b KSchG obliges the manufacturer to enter into a repair contract at the consumer's request. The obligation is limited in four ways: it covers only goods for which Union law lays down reparability requirements – the legal acts listed in Annex II to the Directive are decisive –, it exists only insofar and for as long as the manufacturer must ensure that reparability in any event, the goods must have been purchased by a consumer, and the defect must arise or become apparent outside the seller's warranty obligation (§ 9b Abs 1 and 3 KSchG). Where repair is impossible, the obligation does not apply.

Annex II currently lists ten product groups: household washing machines and washer-dryers, dishwashers, refrigerating appliances, electronic displays, welding equipment, vacuum cleaners, servers and data storage products, mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets, tumble dryers, and goods containing batteries for light means of transport. Within the warranty period the seller remains obliged to remedy defects free of charge; the manufacturer's obligation only takes over beyond that point – and the repair may then come at a price.

Repairs must be carried out free of charge or at a reasonable price and within a reasonable period. For the duration of the repair the manufacturer may provide a replacement item; where repair is impossible, a refurbished item may be offered. One point matters in practice: the manufacturer may not refuse a repair merely because another repair business or another person previously worked on the goods (§ 9b Abs 6 KSchG).

Where the manufacturer is established outside the European Union, the obligation falls on its authorised representative in the Union, failing which on the importer and finally on the distributor (§ 9c KSchG). Information duties follow: the manufacturer must provide information about its repair services free of charge and make indicative prices for typical repairs available on a freely accessible website (§ 9d KSchG); where the repair obligation falls on the authorised representative, the importer or the distributor, these information duties apply to them to the same extent.

The WaRUG contains no penal provisions of its own: the repair obligation is framed as a civil-law claim of the consumer to the conclusion of a repair contract. For cross-border enforcement by the authorities, the Directive has been added to the annex of the Consumer Authorities Cooperation Act.

An additional year of warranty after a repair

The change with the widest practical reach sits in the Consumer Warranty Act. Where goods are repaired in order to bring them into conformity, the warranty period is extended once by one year (§ 10 Abs 2a VGG). The period therefore does not start to run afresh, and further repairs do not extend it again. The extension applies to all goods, not only to the product groups of Annex II. Before providing the remedy, the trader must also inform the consumer of the right to choose between repair and replacement and of the possible extension of the period (§ 12 Abs 2a VGG).

Two further points concern the process: during the repair the trader may lend the consumer a replacement item free of charge, including a refurbished one (§ 13 Abs 1a VGG); replacement with a refurbished item, by contrast, is permitted only at the consumer's express request (§ 13 Abs 2 VGG). Finally, reparability is now expressly among the qualities goods must ordinarily possess (§ 6 Abs 2 Z 5 VGG).

The European repair information form

§ 5d KSchG introduces the European Repair Information Form. Using it is voluntary – but a business that issues it is bound by rules: the form must be provided free of charge and on a durable medium before the consumer is contractually bound. Only the cost of a necessary diagnostic service may be charged, and the consumer must be told about that cost in advance.

The content is prescribed: identity and contact details of the business, the goods, the nature of the defect and of the proposed repair, the price or the method of calculation together with a maximum price, the duration, the availability and cost of a temporary replacement, the place of handover, ancillary services and the period of validity. The business is bound by these conditions for 30 calendar days; a longer period of validity may be agreed. If the consumer accepts the conditions within the period of validity, the repair contract comes into existence with exactly that content. In return, a complete and correct form satisfies certain information duties under the KSchG, the Distance and Off-Premises Contracts Act, the Services Act and the E-Commerce Act – those concerning the main characteristics of the repair service, identity and contact details, the price, and the arrangements and time of performance (§ 5d Abs 4 KSchG).

What to do now

Manufacturers, importers and distributors should first establish whether their products fall under the legal acts listed in Annex II – only then do questions of repair processes, deadlines and published indicative prices arise. For retailers the focus lies elsewhere: the one-off extension of the warranty period must be reflected in deadline management, and the notice about the right to choose belongs in every defect-handling procedure. Anyone offering repairs should decide before 1 October whether to use the European form; being bound to the quoted price for 30 days is a commercial decision, not a formality.

These changes interlock with the Consumer Rights Amendment Act 2026 (Verbraucherrechts-Änderungsgesetz 2026, BGBl. I Nr. 59/2026), whose information duties on durability and reparability take effect on 27 September 2026. Together, the two packages affect product communication, contract templates and service processes.