Businesses should not have to pay a processing fee for resolving consumer disputes

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has completed a draft that contains several important amendments to the Consumer Protection Act in connection with the resolution of consumer disputes. For example, the draft obligates the trader to pay to the state a processing fee of up to 150 euros if the Consumer Disputes Commission satisfies the consumer’s claim against the trader. The Chamber of Commerce informed the Ministry that the companies were opposed to this change.

At present, neither the trader nor the consumer has to pay a fee to the state if the Consumer Disputes Commission settles a dispute between a consumer and a trader. This situation will change with the draft. Namely, the draft stipulates that the trader must pay a processing fee of 150 euros to the state if the consumer dispute commission satisfies the consumer’s claim against the trader. If the Commission partially satisfies the claim, the trader must pay the state 75 euros.

The imposition of a fee will also affect law-abiding companies
The Chamber of Commerce opposes this change for several reasons. First, the imposition of a processing fee may be to the detriment of law-abiding traders. For example, a situation may arise where the trader has to pay at least part of the processing fee to the state, even though he agreed to satisfy the consumer’s legitimate claim from the outset. This situation may arise if the consumer demands significantly more compensation from the trader than is required by law. In addition, the amendment may force traders to settle all small consumer complaints in order to avoid the risk that the Commission will decide, even in part, in favour of the consumer.

Compliance with decisions of the Consumer Disputes Commission will become mandatory
While compliance with the decision of the Consumer Disputes Committee is currently recommended for the trader, the draft makes enforcement of the decisions mandatory. The Chamber of Commerce informed the Ministry that there is currently no need for such a change. Already today, traders voluntarily comply with most decisions of the Consumer Disputes Commission. If the trader does not comply with the decision, he will be blacklisted and may face negative media coverage and reputational damage. Many traders want to avoid this situation and are therefore already complying with the Commission’s decisions today.

If enforcement of decisions becomes mandatory for the trader, the rules for resolving consumer disputes will become significantly more detailed. As a result, dispute resolution may become more difficult for both the consumer and the trader, and the assistance of a lawyer may be required in more cases.

Consumer claims with the amount of less than 30 euros
According to the current Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Disputes Commission may refuse to process a consumer’s application or terminate the procedure if the consumer’s claim is less than 30 euros. In the future, the Ministry wishes to omit this clause from the law. The Chamber of Commerce does not consider this a good idea. A certain threshold is very necessary as it helps reduce malicious complaints from consumers and prevents the proceeding of disputes of very low value. For example, if the state spends about 300 euros on average to resolve a dispute, it is not reasonable to use the proceeding to settle a dispute over 5 euros, for example. Therefore, the Chamber of Commerce proposed to the Ministry to keep the lower limit in the law, below which the Consumer Disputes Committee does not have to process the matter. In the future, the lower limit could be 50 euros.

The draft also contains positive changes for entrepreneurs
The draft stipulates that in the future, the consumer will have to pay 15 euros if he wishes to resolve his dispute in the Commission. Setting such an amount is reasonable, as it helps reduce the number of malicious complaints.

It is also positive that in the future, the trader will have the right to request the Commission to hear the dispute at an oral hearing. Previously, only consumers could ask for an oral hearing. According to the draft, the amendments will enter into force on 1 June 2022. It is not yet known whether and to what extent the Ministry will take into account the proposals of the Chamber of Commerce.

You can learn more about the planned changes HERE.