Companies have just over four weeks to adapt and thus comply from May 21 with the new rule that requires them to answer the consumer complaintsin commercial establishments, in just 15 non-extendable business days.
Before this law No. 31435 -which modifies articles 24 and 152 of the Consumer Protection and Defense Code, related to the response time that providers have and the Complaints Book, where the complaints regarding the products are recorded or services offered and that must now be answered- the response period was 30 calendar days, extendable for another 30 days.
How feasible is it to comply with this new provision?
Fiorella Zumaeta, partner at Miranda & Amado, pointed out that it depends a lot on the profile of the companies and the complexity of the products or services they offer.
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“Clearly, in the case of mass consumption firms or those that develop highly sophisticated economic activities, it will be much more difficult to adapt to this term.”, he alerted.
He specified that it should not be lost sight of that in many sectors specific deadlines are handled according to the complexity of the matter, so it is not advisable to have a general deadline that does not take into account the particularities of the industry.
More chances of penalty
Zumaeta assured that this measure will definitely lead to more companies incurring sanctions. “If under the previous regime (30 calendar days that can be extended) a significant number of companies failed to comply, reducing the term does not have to change this situation, on the contrary, it will aggravate it”, he emphasized
In this way, he indicated that its impact is quite paradoxical because while seeking to promote a greater number of solutions to claims, the reduction of the term makes it difficult.
“Certainly, if after the 15th day the provider is found to be in non-compliance, subject to the imposition of a fine, they will either lose incentive to resolve the complaint in the days that follow or will be tempted to provide responses that do not actually resolve the complaint, just to avoid falling into extemporaneity”, he added.
In case of non-compliance, the consumer may present his complaint to the Indecopi Consumer Protection Commission, attaching his copy of the Complaint Form, so that a sanctioning procedure can be initiated against the responsible establishment, establishing fines according to the seriousness of the violation. the infraction, he explained.
In addition, the lawyer stated that the adaptation time of the new provision (60 calendar days) in some cases will not be enough, since the reduction of the term requires an internal reorganization, which in many cases involves the hiring of trained personnel who can handle claims appropriately.
On the other hand, in smaller-scale companies it is probably not necessary to make changes (or these are of lesser magnitude) if their average response time is within 15 business days (approximately 21 calendar days) or is close. to this, he commented.
On the Indecopi field
On the other hand, Indecopi is expected to issue the necessary directives or adapt the existing ones for the effective application of the law before the end of April.
Precisely, Ana Peña, director of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, informed TVPerú that they are working on the implementation of the norm.
He also recalled that companies are required to display a notice in a visible place indicating that they have the Complaints Book and deliver it when required. “Fortunately, 81% of people already know that this means of claiming exists”, he asserted.
Between 2018 and 2021, Financial Oh! (177 sanctions linked to the attention of claims), Scotiabank, Interbank and Banco Ripley, among the main ones, he reported.
