Consumer Protection

At present, the rights of consumers are recognised both by the National Constitution and by Law No. 24.240 on Consumer Protection. In its article 41, this law establishes that the Secretariat of Domestic Trade will be the National Enforcement Authority, and that the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the Provinces will act as local enforcement authorities.

 

Both the National Authority and the Local Authorities may act concurrently in the surveillance of compliance with the aforementioned law. In view of this concurrence of powers - national and local - in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires there are different bodies in charge of enforcing the law, with different procedures and formalities:

 

General Directorate for Consumer Protection and Defence of the City of Buenos Aires.

 

It is the official body of the City of Buenos Aires, whose purpose is to advise and mediate in consumer issues.

 

Functions: advises on various issues, receives complaints in the different municipal offices of the City Government, as well as supervises and imposes sanctions for infringements of the Consumer Defence Law. The aforementioned, within the procedure foreseen by Law no. 757 of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

 

Procedure: Once a complaint has been received, the supplier concerned is summoned to a conciliation hearing. If an agreement is reached, a record is drawn up and approved. Otherwise, the situation is sent for legal analysis to determine whether or not there has been an infringement of the Consumer Defence Law, with the possibility of a sanction being applied.

 


 

Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires.

 

Functions: responsible for the defence and protection of the human, individual and social rights of the people living in the city, the supervision of institutions, the control of public utilities and the handling of complaints.

 

They also receive complaints from Consumer Defence. Complaints can be submitted by telephone, via the web, by mail, in person, by post or by fax.

 

Procedure: Once the complaint is received, a monitoring and control area (depending on the subject) is assigned to verify its competence and carry out the analysis and investigation of the case.

 

Federal One Stop Shop.

In order to facilitate the promotion of consumer claims throughout the country, on 30.03.21 the Secretariat of Domestic Trade, under the Ministry of Productive Development, issued Resolution no. 274/2021, through which the Federal One-Stop Shop was created within the scope of the National Directorate of Consumer Protection and Consumer Arbitration.

 

This Window shall have the following functions, among others:

  • Receive complaints from consumers from all over the country, for allocation and referral.
  • Confirm the effective reception and treatment of complaints by the local enforcement authorities of the Consumer Defence Law. This means that it is the Authority that will designate the most appropriate method for resolving the conflict in question (provincial jurisdictions, National Consumer Arbitration System, etc.).
  • Identify the claims of those consumers in a situation of hypervulnerability, following the provisions of Resolution no. 139/20 of the Secretariat of Domestic Trade.

 

Thus, providers that have web pages or applications are obliged to incorporate a link that allows access to the page where the complaint form of the Window can be found.

The suppliers requested by virtue of a claim filed with the Window must provide an electronic address to the same within 10 working days of notification, provided that they have not provided an electronic address to the Prior Conciliation Service in Consumer Relations (COPREC). If this is the case, notifications shall be sent to this address in proceedings before the National Authority for the application of Law No. 24.240 and the local enforcement authorities that adhere to Resolution No. 274/21, which shall be valid and considered reliable.

 

National System of Conciliation in Consumer Relations (COPREC).

This is a system for resolving consumer disputes as long as the amount claimed does not exceed 55 times the minimum living and mobile wages. It is free of charge. In order to start the procedure, it is necessary to fill in a form through the agency's website and attach the corresponding supporting documentation.

It is important to bear in mind that if the procedure is initiated through the One-Stop Shop, it is possible that the case will be sent to the City of Buenos Aires, enabling the Prior Conciliation Service in Consumer Relations, if the complainant or the company complained of is domiciled in the Federal Capital, or because the transaction was carried out in this territory.

Procedure: After the conciliation hearing(s), the parties may or may not reach an agreement. If an agreement is reached, it must be approved by the enforcement authority. If an agreement is not reached, the conciliator will record it in the minutes, which are sent to the enforcement authority for analysis in order to verify whether or not there has been an infringement of the Consumer Defence Law.