Capítulo II. Comunicación h) Publicidad

Without prejudice to what is established in other laws, the basic rights of consumers and users are:

a)The protection of their life, health and safety in the acquisition, consumption and use of goods and services.

b)The freedom of choice of the good or service.

c)The freedom of contract.

d)Truthful, sufficient, clear and timely information on goods and services, indicating in addition whether they are new, used or rebuilt, as well as on their prices, characteristics, qualities, content and risks that they could eventually present.

e)Repair, compensation, refund of money or exchange of the good for breach of what was agreed in the transaction and the provisions of this and other laws or for hidden defects that are the liability of the provider.

f)Replacement of the product or, failing that, to opt for credit of its value toward the purchase of another or for refund of the price that has been paid in excess, when the quality or quantity is lower than that indicated.

g)Maintenance of the price at which the product is offered, promoted or advertised or marked in the respective commercial establishment.

h)Return to the provider of those goods that the latter has sent without prior request. In this case, the consumer or user is not obligated to assume liability nor to make any payment, except if it is proven that the consumer or user has expressly accepted the sending or delivery of the good or has used or consumed it.

i)To receive education on the consumption and appropriate use of goods or services that allows them to know and exercise their rights and obligations.

j)To use the complaints book or the means legally authorized by the Directorate of Attention and Assistance to the Consumer, to leave a record of their disagreement with respect to an acquired good or a contracted service.

The obligations of the consumer or user are:

a)To pay for the goods or services in the time, manner, and conditions established in the agreement or contract.

b)To use the goods and services in observance of their normal use and in accordance with the specifications provided by the supplier and to comply with the agreed conditions.

c)To prevent environmental pollution through the rational consumption of goods and services.

Consumer and user organizations are non-profit civil associations, organized with the exclusive purpose of collectively defending the rights of consumers and users; they shall register in the Civil Registry and in the register that the Directorate of Attention and Assistance to the Consumer shall keep for that purpose.

Consumer and user associations constituted in accordance with the law and registered in the Civil Register and the register kept for that purpose by the Directorate of Attention and Assistance to the Consumer, shall have their own legal personality distinct from that of their associates individually considered to pursue their purposes and shall be represented by the person or body designated by their statutes or regulations.

The associations shall submit for their registration in the respective registers the first certified copy of the public deed of their formation in which their statutes or regulations are recorded, as well as that of any extension or modification, to the respective registers.

For the registration to become final in the corresponding register of the Directorate of Attention and Assistance to the Consumer, certification of the registration in the Civil Register shall be attached within fifteen days following said registration.

Consumer and user organizations shall have as their purpose:

a)To promote, protect and defend the interests of consumers and users.

b)To disseminate the content of the provisions of this Law and its complementary regulations.

c)To inform, guide and educate consumers and users by any means of dissemination they deem appropriate, in the proper exercise of their rights and in the fulfillment of their obligations, and to provide them with advice when they request it.

d)To study and propose technical and legal measures aimed at the protection of the rights of consumers and users, and to carry out or support research in the area of consumption.

e)To represent their members before the administrative authorities of the country, in all matters of general and particular interest, unless the members decide to personally exercise the actions to which they are entitled.

f)To collect, gather and disseminate public information deemed appropriate for consumers and users.

g)To ensure faithful compliance with the laws, decrees and decisions issued to protect the consumer and user.

h)To receive claims from consumers or users and file the corresponding complaints.

i)To organize and conduct market studies, quality control studies, price statistics and to supply all information of interest to consumers and users. In quality control studies, certification thereof by the corresponding bodies shall be required.

Consumer or user organizations shall in no case:

a)Have profit-making purposes.

b)Receive aid, donations and subsidies from providers.

c)Engage in advertising or disseminate communications exceeding the purposes established in their bylaws and in this Law.

d)Pursue purposes different from those established in the preceding article.

The following may not be members of the governing bodies of consumer and user organizations:

a)Minors and incapacitated persons

b)Persons who are not Guatemalan citizens.

c)Whoever has been convicted in culpable or fraudulent bankruptcy, while not rehabilitated.

d)Whoever has a criminal record.

e)Whoever, having been convicted in a trial of accounts, has not cleared his/her situation.

f)Persons who represent the interests of suppliers or service providers.

A director of a consumer and user organization who has a direct or indirect personal interest in the deliberation and decision of any matter in which they participate or which affects them by reason of friendship or kinship shall disclose it to the other directors and abstain from participating.

Contravention of this rule shall be sanctioned with loss of office in the consumer and user organization, without prejudice to any legal liability that may be attributed to them.

Consumer and user associations may substantiate the claims of consumers of goods and services before the Directorate arising from non-compliance with this Law. In such proceedings, the function of consumer and user associations shall be strictly that of an extrajudicial complainant; its function shall be limited to facilitating rapprochement between the parties.

The rights of the provider are, without prejudice to those contained in the Political Constitution of the Republic and in the other laws of the country:

a)To receive the profits or earnings corresponding to them for their economic activities conducted in accordance with the law, ethics and morals.

b)To require the consumer or user to comply with validly executed contracts.

c)Free access to administrative and judicial bodies for the resolution of conflicts arising between providers and consumers or users.

d)Such others as established by the laws of the country.

Without prejudice to those contained in other laws, the following are obligations of suppliers:

a)Comply with the legal provisions applicable to them, both national and international, derived from the international agreements or treaties to which Guatemala is a party.

b)Respect the life, health and safety of the consumer or user, when providing them with goods or rendering services to them.

c)Provide basic information on the goods and services they provide.

d)Comply with the tax laws of the country.

e)Issue to the consumer and/or user the corresponding invoice in accordance with the law.

f)Use the Spanish language in the specifications of content, handling, use, production date, expiry date and other indications of the products offered to the public.

g)Translate into the Spanish language the complete specifications of imported products that bear them printed in a foreign language, as well as fully identify the importer.

h)Indicate with conspicuous graphic characters when deficient, used or repaired products are offered to the public, as well as the indication that they are rebuilt, which shall also be stated in the invoice.

i)Deliver the goods and their complete accessories when they form an integral part of the good that is the object of the transaction, or are indispensable for its optimal functioning, at the time and place agreed.

j)Be liable for the hidden defects that the products constituting the object of the transaction may have or for damage to facilities, apparatus, or others, attributable to the supplier's personnel in the installation of contracted products or services.

k)Return payment of what was unduly paid through simple and expeditious procedures, when any person, believing themselves to be a debtor, makes payment in their favor.

l)Deliver to the consumer or user the products in accordance with the specifications offered to them by means of advertising.

m)Test for the consumer and/or user, before delivery thereof, the products that by their nature are susceptible thereto, such as mechanical, electrical, electronic or other products.

n)Keep in good working condition and duly calibrated the weights, measures, cash registers, scales and other weighing instruments used in the business.

ñ)Incorporate in lists, signs, placards, labels or containers the price of the goods or services offered to the public, including the Value Added Tax -IVA-.

o)Respect the specifications of the products, as well as the offers, promotions and clearance sales made with respect thereto, complying exactly with the contractual terms.

p)Be responsible for the suitability and quality of the products and services, for the authenticity of the marks and legends displayed by the products, for the truthfulness of the commercial advertising of the products, for the content and useful life of the product, as well as make available to the public a telephone number for handling complaints, attended by a suitable person trained for such service.

q)Honor without further formalities the warranties undertaken by means of the certificate or record issued in favor of the client.

r)Be responsible for products whose use proves dangerous to the health or physical integrity of consumers, if it is not marketed under the applicable precautions both in its handling and in its administration.

s)Be responsible for ensuring that, when introducing a good into the market known to present a danger or risk, the existence of such dangers or risks in the use or consumption thereof is communicated and reported to the public, especially with respect to health.

t)Compensate the consumer and/or user in accordance with the laws of the country for the damage and losses caused to them due to non-compliance with what was agreed with them, with the provisions of this Law or with other applicable laws of the country in force.

u)Respect the dignity of the human person by not discriminating against the consumer or user, by unjustifiably or arbitrarily refusing to provide a good or render a service.

v)Attend to the claims made by consumers or users, without any condition.

w)Provide the information required of them by the competent authority.

x)Such other obligations as are contained in this and other laws of the country applicable to them.

Without prejudice to others contained in other laws of the country, suppliers are prohibited from:

a)Charging a price higher than that displayed, informed or published. In any case, the consumer has the right to pay the supplier the price as shown in the information.

b)Setting fractional prices for the different elements of a good or service that constitutes a unit, when the purpose is to increase the normal price for such good or service.

c)Adulteration of products, whether in their chemical, organic or any other components that modifies their fitness or quality.

d)Adulteration of weight, mass, volume, quality or any other measure specified in the products offered to the public.

e)Sale to the public of any kind of products after their expiry date or by altering such date.

f)Hoarding, speculation or causing shortages of essential or basic products, with the purpose of causing a rise in their prices. Such conduct shall be sanctioned in accordance with the Criminal Code and other applicable laws.

g)Production, manufacture, importation, construction, distribution and commercialization of food, medicines or other goods prohibited by other specific laws.

h)Charging for a service that has not been provided, or that has not been provided in full, or has not been shown to have been provided by means of the corresponding invoice, unless the parties so agree and there is a record thereof.

i)Charging clearly disproportionate surcharges as interest for late payments and dishonored checks.

j)Any action or omission that results in prejudice to the rights of consumers and users contained in this Law.

In order to guarantee the right to complain of consumers and users, every provider shall make available to them in a visible place a complaints book or any means authorized by the Directorate of Attention and Assistance to the Consumer, which shall be of unrestricted access to the public, which must contain at a minimum the spaces in which the name of the affected consumer or user, the type of complaint and the date on which it was resolved are indicated. When the provider has agencies or branches, it shall have a complaints book in each of them.