Countries › Colombia › Guide › 13. Regulation › Consumer protection in Colombia: legal guarantee, information and advertising, abusive clauses, five day withdrawal right, payment reversal, e-commerce duties and SIC fines

Consumer protection in Colombia: legal guarantee, information and advertising, abusive clauses, five day withdrawal right, payment reversal, e-commerce duties and SIC fines

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Changing

The Estatuto del Consumidor (Ley 1480 de 2011) applies to every sale to consumers in all sectors without special rules, to national and imported products, and makes producer and seller jointly liable for a legal guarantee that cannot be waived (one year for new goods if no term is stated, ten years for the stability of new buildings). Distance and online sales carry a 5 business day withdrawal right with refunds within 15 calendar days, card payments must be reversed on fraud or non delivery, and online sellers must show full price, identity, delivery term (30 days by default) and a complaints channel. The SIC enforces it both as regulator, with fines of up to 2,000 pre 2024 minimum wages (COP 2,809,520,000, about US$889,700), and as a court in consumer claims; debt collectors must respect fixed contact hours.

USD figures use the TRM (tasa representativa del mercado) of COP 3,157.94 per US dollar, valid 27 October 2026, from the official TRM series published by the Superintendencia Financiera on the national open data portal. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Consumer withdrawal right for distance, online and supplier financed sales	5 business daysLey 1480 de 2011 art. 47, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum term to refund after withdrawal	15 calendar daysLey 1480 de 2011 art. 47 (Ley 2439 de 2024 art. 3); Sentencia C-192 de 2026, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Default legal guarantee for new products when no term is stated	1 yearsLey 1480 de 2011 art. 8, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Default delivery term for e-commerce orders if none was agreed	30 calendar daysLey 1480 de 2011 art. 50 lit. h (Ley 2439 de 2024 art. 4), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum SIC consumer protection fine for a company, 2026 pesos (232,000 UVB)	2809520000 COPLey 1480 de 2011 art. 61; Ley 2294 de 2023 art. 313, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum consumer protection fine for managers and others who authorized the conduct, 2026 pesos (34,800 UVB)	421428000 COPLey 1480 de 2011 art. 61; Ley 2294 de 2023 art. 313, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Term for a supplier to answer a direct consumer claim	15 business daysLey 1480 de 2011 art. 58 num. 5 lit. c, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. The statute governs rights and obligations between producers, suppliers and consumers and the liability of producers and suppliers in all sectors of the economy without special regulation (where special rules exist, they apply first and this law supplements them), for both national and imported products. Every producer must ensure the suitability and safety of the goods and services it offers and the quality offered, never below technical regulations and sanitary measures.Ley 1480 de 2011 (Estatuto del Consumidor), Art. 2 and art. 6, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Producers and suppliers are jointly liable to consumers for the legal guarantee of quality, suitability, safety and proper working. Its term is the one set by law or the authority, otherwise the one announced; if none is stated it is one year for new products, the expiry date for perishables, three months for used goods sold without a written waiver, and for real estate ten years for structural stability and one year for finishes. The guarantee covers free repair including transport and spare parts, and if the fault repeats, at the consumer's choice, a new repair, a full or partial refund or replacement.Ley 1480 de 2011, Art. 7, 8, 10 and 11, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Producers and suppliers must give clear, truthful, sufficient, timely, verifiable and precise information on their products, always at least in Spanish, and are liable for damage caused by inadequate information. Objective conditions announced in advertising bind the advertiser; misleading advertising is prohibited and the advertiser answers for the damage it causes (the media only for fraud or gross negligence). Terms of promotions bind whoever offers them; if the end date is omitted, the promotion lasts until revoked with the same reach.Ley 1480 de 2011, Art. 23, 29, 30 and 33, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. General terms and adhesion contracts must be in Spanish, clear and legible, and the consumer must be informed in advance of their existence and scope, otherwise they are treated as not written. Abusive clauses are ineffective by law, including those that limit the supplier's legal liability, waive consumer rights, reverse the burden of proof, presume consent that creates charges, impose higher requirements to terminate than to sign, or automatic renewals that prevent termination at any time or penalize early termination.Ley 1480 de 2011, Art. 37, 42 and 43, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. In sales financed by the supplier, timeshares and distance or non traditional sales (including e-commerce), the consumer has a right of withdrawal (retracto) for 5 business days from delivery of the goods or from contracting a service; the consumer returns the product at its own cost. Exceptions include services already started with consent, personalized goods, perishable goods, goods that cannot be returned by nature, betting and lotteries and personal use goods. Since Ley 2439 of 19 December 2024 the refund must be made within 15 calendar days (previously 30), and in Sentencia C-192 of 2026 (press release of 24 June 2026) the Constitutional Court held that the 15 day term applies to all the sale types in the article, not only e-commerce.
Example: A consumer buys a COP 2,500,000 sofa online and withdraws on day 4 after delivery: the store must refund COP 2,500,000 within 15 calendar days; the consumer pays the return shipping. / Refund about US$792 within 15 days.Ley 1480 de 2011 (art. 47 as amended by Ley 2439 de 2024 art. 3), Art. 47, 2024-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley 2439 de 2024 (Diario Oficial 52.975 of 19 December 2024) cut the refund term after withdrawal from 30 to 15 calendar days and bound all payment actors to it; Sentencia C-192 of 2026 extended the 15 day term to all modalities in art. 47.

6. Online and distance sellers in Colombia must show their identity (name, tax ID, address for notices and contact details), truthful product information, the total price including taxes with shipping shown separately, payment methods, delivery time and the withdrawal right; publish their general terms; present an order summary before the transaction closes; send an acknowledgment by the next calendar day; keep durable proof of the transaction; secure consumer data; and offer an accessible complaints channel with a filing number. Unless another term is agreed and shown before purchase, delivery must occur within 30 calendar days; if late or unavailable, the consumer may terminate and get a full refund within 15 calendar days (changes in force from 19 April 2025).Ley 1480 de 2011 (art. 50 as amended by Ley 2439 de 2024 art. 4), Art. 49 and art. 50, 2024-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley 2439 de 2024 expanded product information duties, required a traceable complaints channel and set the 30 day default delivery term and 15 day refund for late delivery, effective 19 April 2025.

7. For e-commerce, call center or other distance sales paid with a credit or debit card or another electronic payment instrument, the payment participants must reverse the payment at the consumer's request when there was fraud, the operation was not requested, the product was not received, or it was defective or not what was ordered. The consumer must complain to the supplier within 5 business days, return the product where applicable and notify the card issuer. If a court or authority later rules for the supplier, the charge is reinstated, and a consumer acting in bad faith can be fined up to 50 minimum wages. Payments by pre authorized automatic debit for periodic services can be reversed for any reason.
Cost to do it: Fine for a consumer in bad faith up to 50 pre 2024 minimum wages: COP 70,238,000 (about US$22,200) in 2026.Ley 1480 de 2011, Art. 51, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

8. The SIC (or the competent judge, at the consumer's choice) hears consumer protection actions through a summary verbal procedure, with nationwide jurisdiction. Before suing the consumer must claim directly to the producer or supplier, who must answer within 15 business days. Claims to enforce a guarantee must be filed within one year after the guarantee expires; purely contractual disputes within one year of the contract's end; other cases within one year after the consumer learned of the facts.Ley 1480 de 2011; Código General del Proceso, Ley 1480 art. 56 and art. 58; CGP (Ley 1564 de 2012) art. 24 num. 1 lit. a, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

9. After an administrative investigation, the SIC may impose fines of up to 2,000 monthly minimum wages; temporary closure of the establishment for up to 180 days; on repeat offences, permanent closure or removal of a website or e-commerce channel; temporary or permanent bans on producing or selling products; destruction of harmful products; and successive fines of up to 1,000 minimum wages while orders are ignored. Managers, directors, legal representatives, statutory auditors, partners or others who authorized or carried out the conduct face fines of up to 300 minimum wages and a ban on trading for up to 5 years. The SIC can also order immediate preventive suspension of production or sale for 60 days, extendable once, when a product seriously threatens life or safety or breaches a technical regulation, and order corrective advertising at the advertiser's cost.
Cost to do it: 2026 caps under Ley 2294 de 2023 art. 313: company COP 2,809,520,000 (about US$889,700); successive fines COP 1,404,760,000 (about US$444,800) each; individuals COP 421,428,000 (about US$133,500).Ley 1480 de 2011, Art. 59 num. 6 and 8, and art. 61, 2011-10-12 official text · verified 2026-10-27

10. Financial institutions and anyone collecting debts, directly, through third parties or by assignment, may contact consumers only through channels the consumer has authorized, not through several channels in the same week nor more than once a day, and only Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., never on Sundays or holidays, unless the consumer expressly asks otherwise in a separate document after signing the contract.Ley 2300 de 2023, Art. 1, 2 and 3, 2023-07-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27

11. From 1 January 2024, fines, sanctions and thresholds previously set in monthly minimum wages are calculated through their equivalent in Unidades de Valor Básico (UVB), at 2023 values (one 2023 minimum wage of COP 1,160,000 equals 116 UVB of COP 10,000); tax, customs and exchange control amounts in UVT are excluded. The 2026 UVB is COP 12,110 (Resolución MinHacienda 3488 of 31 December 2025), so each pre 2024 minimum wage cap is worth COP 1,404,760 in 2026.Ley 2294 de 2023 (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo), Art. 313, 2023-05-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Sanction	Legal cap	2026 COP	USD
Fine on a company	2,000 minimum wages	2,809,520,000	about US$889,700
Successive fines while orders are ignored	1,000 minimum wages each	1,404,760,000	about US$444,800
Fine on managers, auditors, partners who authorized the conduct	300 minimum wages plus up to 5 year trading ban	421,428,000	about US$133,500
Temporary closure	Up to 180 days
Bad faith consumer in payment reversal	50 minimum wages	70,238,000	about US$22,200

Consumer protection sanctions in 2026 (Ley 1480 de 2011 art. 61; pre 2024 minimum wage caps at 116 UVB each and the 2026 UVB of COP 12,110; USD at TRM COP 3,157.94)

Worked example

A US online retailer sells to Colombian consumers through a local SAS. A customer orders a COP 2,500,000 (about US$792) laptop with no delivery date stated: the SAS must deliver within 30 calendar days, and if it fails the customer may cancel and must be refunded within 15 calendar days; if the card was charged and the laptop never arrived, the customer can also request a payment reversal by complaining within 5 business days and notifying the card issuer.

Step by step

Confirm whether a special consumer regime applies (financial services, telecoms, utilities, health) before relying only on Ley 1480.
Set and publish guarantee terms per product line; if none is stated, one year applies to new goods.
Review advertising and promotions: every objective claim binds you, and promotions need start and end dates or stock limits.
Audit standard terms against art. 43 and remove auto renewal penalties and liability caps.
For online sales, build the art. 50 checkout: identity, full price, delivery term, withdrawal notice, order summary, next day acknowledgment and a complaints channel with filing numbers.
Set up processes to refund within 15 calendar days and to answer direct claims within 15 business days.
Train collection teams and vendors on the Ley 2300 contact hours.

Common traps

Producer and seller are jointly liable for the guarantee; an importer cannot shift it to the foreign manufacturer.
If a used product is sold without a written guarantee waiver accepted by the consumer, a three month guarantee applies.
Silence or pre ticked boxes cannot create charges for the consumer.
Personal sanctions of up to 300 minimum wages and a 5 year trading ban can fall on managers and the statutory auditor, not just the company.
The 15 day refund now also applies to supplier financed and timeshare sales after Sentencia C-192 de 2026.

Sources

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