SAL and SOL badges on your website: what they are, where to place them, and why Romania's ANPC asks online shops for them

Short answer: SAL and SOL are the two ANPC pictograms Romanian websites have had to show since 2022. SAL is alternative dispute resolution through ANPC; SOL was the EU's online dispute resolution platform, which closed on 20 July 2025. Since ANPC Order 270/2026, the only badge you need is the new SAL pictogram (250 x 50 pixels) on your homepage, linked to reclamatiisal.anpc.ro. The old SOL badge should come off.

Maybe you got an ANPC inspection notice, or you just want peace of mind, and you keep running into these two labels in other shops' footers and terms and conditions. The good news: there is nothing to buy and no hidden fee. At its core this is a duty to inform: you tell your customers that if they have a dispute with you, they can settle it without going to court. Below we explain what SAL and SOL mean, what changed in 2025 and 2026, exactly where the pictogram goes and how to add it.

What SAL and SOL actually are

Both are ways to settle a dispute between you (the trader) and an unhappy customer without a court case.

• SAL stands for Soluționarea Alternativă a Litigiilor, Romanian for alternative dispute resolution (ADR). A consumer asks a specialized body to help resolve the conflict. In Romania the general SAL body works within ANPC, the national consumer protection authority. The legal basis is Government Ordinance (OG) 38/2015, which transposes the EU directive on consumer ADR. The procedure is free for the consumer and, as a rule, must be completed within 90 calendar days of the SAL body receiving the complete complaint file.

• SOL stands for Soluționarea Online a Litigiilor, the Romanian name for the EU's Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. It stopped accepting new complaints on 20 March 2025 and was discontinued on 20 July 2025, when Regulation (EU) 2024/3228 repealed the regulation that created it.

In short: SAL is the national mechanism and it still applies. SOL was the EU-level online option, and it no longer exists.

What changed in 2026: the SOL badge is gone

The pictograms come from ANPC Order 449/2022, which required both a SAL and a SOL pictogram on the homepage of commercial websites. ANPC then amended it with Order 270/2026, published in Monitorul Oficial no. 420 on 19 May 2026. The amendment removes the references to the defunct SOL platform and introduces a new SAL pictogram that must link to ANPC's SAL complaints platform.

If your site was built between 2022 and 2025 and nobody has touched the footer since, it most likely still shows the old pair of badges. Swapping them is a quick job, but it is easy to forget.

Who has to display the SAL pictogram

Order 449/2022 applies to traders who run websites for sales, online order-taking and/or advertising of products or services, including tourism services, package holidays and airline tickets, as well as e-commerce. In practice that covers:

• online shops of any size, whatever platform they run on;
• sites that take orders online, through a form, email or chat, instead of a cart;
• business websites that present and advertise products or services to consumers, even without a checkout.

The order exempts traders in sectors that have their own dedicated SAL body set up under OG 38/2015. If your sector has one, your customer information should point to that body instead of ANPC.

If you also have a shop, office or other physical premises where you serve consumers, the same order requires the SAL plaque there: minimum 16 x 16 cm, in a visible place, next to the till or next to your opening hours.

Where exactly to put it on your site

The order says the pictogram goes on the first page of the site, the homepage. OG 38/2015 adds that the SAL information must appear on your website and, where you have them, in your general terms and conditions, including the address of the SAL body's website.

The practical solution most shops use is the site-wide footer: it covers the homepage and every other page in one go. Whatever you choose, check it on a phone. Many themes collapse the footer into accordions on mobile, and a pictogram tucked inside a closed accordion is easy to miss.

The row about complaints also comes from OG 38/2015: when a customer's complaint cannot be resolved directly with you, you have to tell them they can turn to the SAL body, on paper or on another durable medium, such as an email.

How to add the new SAL pictogram

1. Download the official pictogram. ANPC provides the new SAL pictogram and plaque free of charge on anpc.ro. Use the official file, not a redesign or a copy taken from another site.

2. Keep the size. The order sets 250 x 50 pixels. Do not stretch or crop it; a blurry or distorted badge looks careless.

3. Link it to the complaints platform. The pictogram must carry an external link to https://reclamatiisal.anpc.ro. An image without a link, or one that still points to the old anpc.ro/ce-este-sal/ page, does not meet the current rule.

4. Add alt text. Something like "ANPC – Soluționarea alternativă a litigiilor (SAL)", or an English equivalent on an English page, helps screen readers and still tells people what the image is if it fails to load.

5. Place it in the footer. In WordPress with a classic theme, a footer widget area (Appearance > Widgets) is usually the easiest spot; with a block theme, edit the Footer template part in the Site Editor (Appearance > Editor). In Shopify, open the theme editor (Online Store > Themes > Customize) and add the linked image to the footer; if your theme's footer has no image option, a Custom Liquid section or block can hold the linked image. On a custom-built site, ask your developer to add it to the footer component so it appears everywhere.

6. Remove SOL everywhere. Delete the SOL pictogram and every link to ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr: footer, Terms and Conditions, the returns page and email templates.

7. Update your Terms and Conditions. A short paragraph is enough. Since your terms are most likely in Romanian, a version you can adapt: "Soluționarea alternativă a litigiilor: dacă nu sunteți mulțumit de modul în care am soluționat reclamația dumneavoastră, vă puteți adresa Autorității Naționale pentru Protecția Consumatorilor (ANPC), entitatea SAL competentă, prin platforma electronică SAL, la adresa https://reclamatiisal.anpc.ro." Add your company details (name, registration number, address, email) on the same page.

8. Test it. Click the pictogram on desktop and on a phone and make sure it opens the ANPC SAL complaints platform.

What ANPC actually checks (and what it can cost)

During an inspection, ANPC is not grading how nice your badge looks. It checks whether the required information is there, is correct and is easy to find. Under Article 32 of OG 38/2015, failing to inform consumers about SAL is a contravention punishable by a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 lei.

The SAL pictogram is only one item on the list. Inspectors look at the whole picture: terms and conditions, return policy, company details, privacy. A perfect badge will not make up for a missing returns page. For the full list of pages, see our guide to the legal pages an online store in Romania must have.

Common mistakes we see on older sites

• The SOL badge is still in the footer, linking to a platform that closed in July 2025.
• The SAL badge is an image with no link, or it still points to the old ANPC page instead of reclamatiisal.anpc.ro.
• The pictogram only appears inside the Terms and Conditions page, not on the homepage.
• A stretched, pixelated or home-made version of the badge instead of the official file.
• The badge is hidden on mobile inside a collapsed footer.
• Paying for a "mandatory SAL/SOL badge": the official files are free.

A short checklist to stay calm during an inspection

So you are not left wondering whether you forgot something, here is the list worth ticking off on your store:

• A clear, complete Terms and Conditions page, including the SAL paragraph
• A return policy covering the 14-day right of withdrawal for online orders
• For contracts concluded online, the "withdraw from contract here" function that EU rules (Directive (EU) 2023/2673) require from 19 June 2026; ask your platform or developer whether yours has it
• Visible company details: name, tax ID, address, email, phone
• The new SAL pictogram on the homepage, 250 x 50 pixels, linked to reclamatiisal.anpc.ro
• No SOL pictogram and no link to the old ODR platform
• A privacy policy and cookie notice (see GDPR for small websites)

Because rules keep changing, check the current version on anpc.ro before making important changes.

If you look at that list and are not sure you have all of it, that is a sign it is worth a check. At MPO Web Studio we build stores that come with these pages included from the start, and we work entirely remotely, anywhere in the country. If you want us to look over your site together, message us on WhatsApp and we will honestly tell you what is missing, without pushing you to buy anything.