Capítulo VI. Infracciones y sanciones

Any act or omission on the part of suppliers and consumers and/or users or organizations of consumers and users that involves violation of substantive legal norms in this matter or abuse of the exercise of the rights and obligations established by this Law constitutes a violation punishable by the Directorate, to the extent and with the scope established therein.

The public officials and employees of the Directorate who, in the exercise of their functions, become aware of the commission of an act that may constitute a crime must immediately report it to the competent authority, under penalty of incurring liability.

Without prejudice to the right of defense held by suppliers or providers of goods and services, to exercise their right of defense through the administrative procedures for dispute resolution regulated below, the Directorate may progressively impose the following sanctions:

a)Written warning, which shall be formulated by the public official or employee duly authorized by the Directorate, as established in this Law.

b)Public warning, which may be published in the mass media.

c)Fines, which shall be calculated in Adjustable Fine Units (UMAs). The value of each UMA shall be equivalent to the monthly minimum wage in force for non-agricultural activities, provided that it does not exceed one hundred percent of the value of the good or service.

d)Publication of the results of the investigation at the infringer's expense in the newspaper of greatest circulation in the country.

To determine the fine sanction to be imposed, the Directorate shall take into account the type of violation, the risk or harm caused, the economic condition of the infringer, the prejudice caused, intent, recidivism, its significance to the population and the value of the goods and services subject to the violation.

The Directorate shall impose sanctions with a fine of fifteen to seventy-five UMAS on those providers who incur the following violations:

a)Incurring any of the prohibitions established in this Law.

b)Failure to comply with their obligations.

c)Omission to provide the basic information on the products and services offered to consumers and users.

d)Failure to display the prices of the goods or services offered to the public.

e)Omission of information to consumers or users when deficient, used, repaired products are sold, or others in whose production or manufacture used parts or pieces have been used.

f)Omitting the supplementary information requested by the Directorate, provided that the guarantee of professional secrecy and any confidential information by legal provision is not violated.

g)Providing information not susceptible to verification, or that induces error or deceit.

h)Infringing the rules relating to seasonal promotions or clearance sales established in this Law.

i)Failure to previously inform the consumer or user of the conditions under which credit is granted to them.

j)Failure to warn or to provide instructions on the use of products potentially harmful to the health or physical integrity of consumers or users or to the safety of their property.

k)When, upon becoming aware that a product is harmful or dangerous for consumption or use, failing to inform the public and to withdraw it from the market.

l)Failure to comply with the guarantee extended to the consumer or user.

m)Failure to provide the complaints book established by this Law or the means legally authorized by the Directorate.

n)Preventing access by consumers or users who wish to register their claims to the legally authorized means or to the complaints book, whether due to loss or misplacement, deterioration, or exhaustion of the respective folios. In no case may the right to record their claims be denied to the consumer or user.

ñ)Failure to maintain in good working condition and duly calibrated the weights, measures, cash registers, scales and other weighing instruments used in the business.

o)Charging in excess the interest to be applied on outstanding balances of credits granted, or demanding advance payments, without the existence of a consent agreement by the consumer or user.

p)Failure to register adhesion contracts with the Directorate.

The following facts constitute special cases of violations against the rights of consumers or users:

a)Higher Price: Whoever charges a price higher than that displayed, reported or published shall be imposed a fine of fifteen to twenty UMAS.

b)Price Splitting: Whoever sets split prices for the different elements of a good and service that constitutes a unit, when the purpose is to increase the normal price for such good or service, shall be imposed a fine of ten to twenty-five UMAS.

c)Delivery Conditions: Whoever fails to comply with the delivery conditions, time limits and characteristics that were offered or agreed with the consumer shall be imposed a fine of ten to twenty UMAS.

d)Product Adulteration: Whoever adulterates products, whether in their chemical, organic or any type of components that modify their suitability or quality, shall be imposed a fine of twenty to eighty UMAS.

e)Lower Content: The lower indication on the container or packaging of the quantity or net content of a product shall give rise to a fine of twenty to eighty UMAS.

f)Obstruction or Resistance: Whoever, through any act or willful action that obstructs or prevents the investigation and oversight action of the Directorate, shall be imposed a fine of fifteen to fifty UMAS.

g)Advertising: For the use of misleading advertising by the supplier, a fine of forty to eighty UMAS shall be imposed.

h)Guarantee: Failure to extend a guarantee for products sold by the supplier, in accordance with the provisions of this Law, or for failure to extend it in full, shall be imposed a fine equivalent to fifty UMAS.

i)Abuse of Right: Consumer or user organizations that contravene the limitations contained in Article 10 of this Law shall be imposed a fine equivalent to twenty-five UMAS.

j)Negligence: Whoever, in the sale of a good or in the provision of a service, acting with negligence, causes detriment to the consumer or user, due to failures or deficiencies in the identity and origin of the respective good or service, and safety in its use, shall be imposed a fine of twenty to fifty UMAS.

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The Directorate, in addition to the other violations contained in this law, must impose sanctions on those who incur the following violations in cases of credit cards:

Minor Violations.

a)Failure to comply with the characteristics, conditions and terms in the preparation of credit card contracts and extra-financings, required by the Law.

b)Failure to comply with the conditions and terms established in the contract.

c)Failure to ensure that the applicant, the guarantor if any, or the credit card or extra-financing cardholder, as applicable, have the capacity to timely meet payment of their obligations.

d)Failure to comply with the content or time limits of the decisions issued by the Directorate of Consumer Attention and Assistance.

e)Failure to comply in manner, form and time with the delivery of the information requested by the Directorate of Consumer Attention and Assistance.

f)Failure to comply with the conditions and terms established in the law for the offering or granting of payment agreements.

g)Failure to provide credit card statements in the time, form and manner established in the law.

h)To oppress, harass or abuse insistently and repeatedly against a person, on the occasion of the collection efforts for a debt.

Serious Violations:

a)Failure to make the notifications, updates, publications or communications established by law, or failure to make them at the due time.

b)Making improper charges or charges for services that have not been effectively agreed and provided.

c)To market, assign or distribute without express authorization from the cardholder the data of the cardholders.

d)To dispose, without prior authorization from the cardholder, of the monetary or savings funds thereof, to apply them as payment of the debts incurred by the cardholder through the use of credit cards.

e)When any of the minor offenses previously established are committed on more than one occasion.

In the special cases of Credit Card violation, sanctions shall be imposed as follows:

a)Minor violations: From fifteen to fifty-five UMAS, and public warning, which may be published in the mass media at the expense of the violator.

b)Serious violations: From thirty-six to fifty-five UMAS and publication of the results of the investigation at the expense of the violator in a newspaper of greatest circulation in the country.

Recidivism exists when, within a period of two years, a natural person or legal person commits a violation of the same nature and for which they had already been sanctioned, in which case the sanction to be imposed shall be increased by twenty-five percent.

The Directorate shall keep a public register of all complaints filed before it.

Without prejudice to compensation for damage caused, where applicable, the consumer or user, upon prior return to the supplier, may opt between free repair of the good, its replacement or the return of the amount paid.

The exercise of these rights must have been made effective before the supplier within the three months following the date on which the product was received, provided that it has not deteriorated due to an act attributable to the consumer or user. If the product was sold with a specific guarantee, the time limit for which it was extended shall prevail, if it is longer. For perishable products the time limit may not exceed seven days.

The products that suppliers, such suppliers being distributors or merchants, have had to replace for consumers or users and those for which they refunded the amount received in payment shall be restituted to them, against delivery thereof, by the person from whom they acquired them or by the manufacturer or importer, with reimbursement, where applicable, of restitution or return costs, if any, and of the indemnities that had to be paid also being borne by the latter, provided that the defect giving rise to one or the other is attributable to them.

Whenever consumers or users commit violations of what was negotiated or agreed with suppliers or service providers and such circumstance can be proven by them, they may be sanctioned in accordance with what is established in the contract or negotiation in question, but in any case the right of the consumer or user to exercise their right of defense is guaranteed, through the corresponding administrative or legal procedure.