The Economy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies generally approved the “Sernac Protects You” Bill, which seeks to give greater powers to the consumer protection agency.
“This is a very important project that in practice takes care of the fact that currently there are more than 250 thousand complaints a year that are not well resolved, because either the companies do not give a satisfactory response or in some cases they do not even respond. . The fact of being able to ensure that these claims are well addressed, are well resolved, is precisely what this project does by giving Sernac the sanctioning capacity,” Minister Nicolás Grau said following approval.
Likewise, the director of Sernac stressed the importance of “having more tools to be able to solve cases more quickly and effectively” and that it might be possible, for example, “if the response to complaints were mandatory and having the power to sanction non-compliant companies, and order direct refunds of money to the National Consumer Service, Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, consumers, aspects that are the spirit of this project, which continues its course in Congress.”
After the idea is approved in general, the Bill will continue its discussion in particular in the committee.
Project
Currently, 43% of the complaints presented to Sernac are not resolved and the only alternative that the consumer has to persevere is by resorting to the courts. However, less than 3% of cases end up before the police court.
local (JPL).
Currently, SERNAC, in cases of individual complaints, does not have sufficient tools to provide a timely solution to consumer problems, since to do so it must report the companies to the local police courts, an instance where it can only pursue fines to tax benefits for violations.
In this context, the bill considers expeditious and effective complaints management by companies through the creation of complaint response channels, along with the obligation to respond to them.
Likewise, this project reinforces the role that the agency plays in the management of the complaints it receives, imposing on companies the obligation to respond to the agency when they are referred to them, an action that is currently completely voluntary, increasing the possibility of achieving quick repairs. and effective for consumers in this instance.
#Commission #approves #project #grants #greater #powers #Sernac #Discusión
