Jueves, 18 Mayo 2023

The complaints book and its vast set of obligations

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Decree-Law 156/2005 of September 15th, in its updated version, imposes on the supplier of goods or provider of services a set of obligations, namely:

i. Possess the Complaints Book in the establishments to which the activity relates;

ii. To provide the consumer with the Complaints Book immediately and free of charge whenever requested to do so by the consumer, without prejudice to the observance of the order of attendance rules provided for in the commercial establishment, respecting the priority attendance regime;

iii. Display the following information in a clearly visible place of their premises, in characters easily readable by the consumer or user: "This establishment has a complaints book" and "Competent entity to assess the complaint: [full identification and address of the entity]";

iv. Provide all the necessary elements for the correct filling of the fields related to their identification;

v. Confirm that the consumer or user has filled them in correctly (when consumers are unable to fill in the complaint sheet due to illiteracy or physical disability, the supplier of goods / service provider or any person in charge of the service shall, at the time of submission of the complaint and at the request of the consumer, fill it in as described orally by the consumer);

vi. Maintain, for a minimum period of 3 years, an organized archive of the Complaints Books;

vii. Send the originals of the complaint forms, the replies already sent to the consumers due to the complaints formulated, when applicable, and the copies of the advertising messages, through paper-based or digital support, when the object of the complaints concerns advertising;

viii. Deliver the duplicate complaint to the consumer, keeping the triplicate, which is an integral part of the Complaints Book and cannot be removed from it (if the consumer refuses to receive the duplicate complaint, the supplier of the goods or service provider must file the duplicate, mentioning this refusal);

ix. Acquire a new book in case of closure, loss or misplacement of the Complaints Book;

x. In case of loss or misplacement of the Complaints Book, the obligation to communicate in writing that fact to the regulatory entity, within a maximum of 5 working days;

xi. Provide the cooperation required by the competent market control entity or sector regulatory entity, namely by ensuring direct access to the information and by submitting the requested documents or records;

xii. In case of change of address, activity or of the respective CAE, or change of the name of the establishment, the supplier must communicate to Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, S.A. the change made, for the purposes of actualizing the Complaints Book.

 

It is also important to note that the supplier of goods or service provider may not, under any circumstances, justify the absence of a Complaints Book in the establishment where the consumer requests it, by the fact that it is available in other establishments or by the fact that it is available the electronic format of the Complaints Book.

Non-compliance with these obligations by suppliers of goods or service providers constitutes an economic offence.

Under the terms of the Portuguese legal regime of economic offences (“Regime Jurídico das Contraordenações Económicas”) these may be very severe, severe or light, and are punishable with the following fines:

  • Very severe administrative offences

Micro companies, from €3,000.00 to €11,500.00

Small companies, from €8,000.00 to €30,000.00

Medium companies, from €16,000.00 to €60,000.00

Large companies, from €24,000.00 to €90,000.00

  • Severe administrative offences

Micro companies, from €1,700.00 to €3,000.00

Small companies, from €4,000.00 to €8,000.00

Medium companies, from €8,000.00 to €16,000.00

Large companies, from €12,000.00 to €24,000.00

  • Light administrative offences

Micro companies, from €250.00 to €1,500.00

Small companies, from €600.00 to €4,000.00

Medium companies, from €1,250.00 to €8,000.00

Large companies, from €1,500.00 to €12,000.00.

 

The Commercial and Business Law Department at Belzuz Abogados is at your disposal to provide any clarification or advice on these matters.

 

 Patricia Boavida Patricia Boavida

 

Belzuz Abogados SLP

La presente publicación contiene información de carácter general sin que constituya opinión profesional ni asesoría jurídica. © Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P., quedan reservados todos los derechos. Se prohíbe la explotación, reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública y transformación total o parcial, de esta obra, sin autorización escrita de Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P.

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