Capítulo VII. Procedimientos administrativos para solucion de conflictos

The Directorate shall act on its own initiative or upon complaint by aggrieved consumers or users, or by an interested party, to ensure that violations of this Law are duly sanctioned.

For the resolution of conflicts and disputes arising between providers and consumers or users that may constitute a violation of this Law, the following procedures are established:

a)Direct conciliatory settlement between the parties.

b)Consumer arbitration.

c)Administrative procedure.

All actions in the administrative procedure shall be recorded in records.

The Directorate shall have a trained and specialized body of conciliators, who shall be in charge of the conciliation hearing.

In order for the consumer or user to be able to attend, when personally required, the hearings set by the Directorate, their employer shall grant them the corresponding permission, upon prior written summons sent by the Directorate. A worker who is absent from work for this reason shall prove such absence by means of the certificate of attendance and of the duration of the hearing, issued by the Directorate.

At the first hearing, if the parties opt for direct conciliatory settlement this hearing shall become a conciliation hearing. The conciliator appointed by the Directorate shall seek to bring the parties together, proposing equitable conciliation formulas to them. If an agreement is reached, the conciliator shall draw up a record documenting the agreement and conciliation reached by the parties. At any time the parties may conciliate, with the proceedings being concluded.

At the first hearing or at any time the parties may voluntarily submit to consumer arbitration, which shall be formalized in accordance with the Arbitration Law, its procedure and other applicable matters.

Through the administrative procedure, the Directorate is empowered to impose sanctions on violators of this Law. The Directorate may initiate the administrative procedure on its own initiative or by means of a complaint filed by a consumer or user, or consumer association. This procedure is based on the principles of celerity, orality, equity, informality and publicity.

Both consumers or users and providers may appear before the Directorate in their own name or through their legal representatives.

The consumer or user who considers himself aggrieved shall fill out the form provided by the Directorate, in which he shall state the complaint, record his personal data and place to receive notifications, as well as the data of the supplier of goods or provider of services against whom the complaint is filed and the address where the latter may be notified or, alternatively, the branch or agency of the supplier where he acquired or contracted the good or service.

The Directorate shall personally notify the interested parties, summoning them for such purpose by mail certifying receipt of the summons, in case of non-appearance through the notification procedure established in the Civil and Commercial Procedural Code. To continue the administrative procedure, it must be reliably recorded that the parties were duly notified with express reference to the place, manner, day and time.

The Directorate shall summon the alleged infringer and the consumer or user who filed the claim, indicating the day and time for the administrative hearing, within the ten days following the date on which the complaint was filed, so that the parties appear with the suitable elements that substantiate their position; likewise, to inform them of the procedures available to them to resolve the conflict, in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

During the hearing, the conciliator appointed by the Directorate shall seek to resolve the controversy or conflict by seeking conciliation between the parties. If the parties voluntarily so wish, they may submit to direct settlement or consumer arbitration. If the offender fails to appear at the hearing, or, appearing thereat, states that the offender does not wish to conciliate or to submit to consumer arbitration, the hearing shall terminate.

If an agreement is reached, the conciliator of the Directorate shall draw up a record documenting the agreements reached by the parties.

If at the hearing conciliation or submission to consumer arbitration is not achieved, the Directorate shall initiate the administrative procedure to impose sanctions for the violation of this Law. For such purpose, it shall again summon the offender to a second administrative hearing so that he may be heard and offer the evidence on which the defense is based.

. If the violator fails to appear at the hearing, the Directorate shall proceed to issue the corresponding decision declaring him in default.

Within the procedure there shall be an evidence period which shall have a time limit of ten days, for the alleged offender to submit his defense evidence, all legal means of evidence being admissible.

In cases where necessary, the Directorate may contract the services of an expert. In the event of contradictory expert examinations, the experts shall designate a third party to issue an opinion.

If the Directorate deems it necessary, it shall appoint an expert. The Directorate shall prepare a list of experts specialized in the subject matter of the complaint, from among whom it may choose. The offender may propose an expert at the offender's expense.

Members of the Judicial Branch may not serve as experts. Nor may those who have, with the parties or with the controversy submitted to their expert examination, any of the relationships that give rise to abstention, excuse, or recusal of a judge, in accordance with the Law of the Judicial Branch.

The expert shall submit his opinion within the time limit set by the Directorate, which shall not exceed five days, unless the nature of the matter requires a longer period. The report shall contain the expert's opinion on the matter requested of him, establishing, according to his judgment and the evidence or analyses performed, which person or entity is in the right.

All files initiated by the Directorate are public and may be consulted by the interested parties in the procedure, their attorneys and representatives.

Upon conclusion of the procedure, a decision shall be issued within the following five days, with the Directorate, on the basis of the evidence gathered, to determine whether or not the supplier or service provider incurred the violation and, in the affirmative case, the sanction. The decision shall meet, as applicable, the requirements established by the Law of the Judicial Branch.

The application of sanctions established in this Law corresponds to the Directorate, except for cases constituting crimes, the cognizance and sanction of which correspond to the jurisdictional organs. In the administrative proceeding followed to determine the commission of a violation of the rights of consumers or users, the Directorate must act with ex officio action, celerity, impartiality and specialty of the proceedings.

If the investigation conducted were to reveal the commission of a crime, the Directorate shall refrain from imposing any sanction and shall, on its own initiative, bring the fact to the knowledge of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

. If, after exhaustion of administrative proceedings, the party on whom any sanction has been imposed does not resort to what is established in Article 106 of this Law, the sanctioning decision shall become final and the following procedure shall be followed:

a)If the sanction consists of the imposition of a fine, it must be paid within the ten following days at the Treasury of the Directorate, with specific charge to its private funds. In case of non-compliance, collection shall be carried out through economic-coercive proceedings where the acknowledgment of the debt for a fine, made by the offender or his legal representative, is recorded.

4.Any other document that by legal provision has executory force.

b)In cases where the sanction consists of publication of the results of the investigation at the offender's expense, the Directorate shall supervise compliance with this sanction.

. For each violation committed, the Directorate shall apply a sanction. However, when the same act constitutes more than one violation, the sanction of greatest value shall be applied.

The funds collected as fines and sanctions imposed and derived from the application of this Law shall enter the private funds of the Directorate, to promote education to the consumer economic-coercive, the following documents constituting executory title:

1.Certification of the decision containing the fine imposed.

2.Certification of the document in which is recorded the acknowledgment of the debt owed as a fine, made by the offender or his legal representative before a competent public official or employee.

3.Notarial record or certified copy of the public instrument authorized by a notary, in which dor.

Liability for violations and the sanctions established in this Law and its regulation are extinguished in the following cases:

a)Compliance with the sanction;

b)Limitation period of liability;

c)Limitation period of the sanction; and

d)By conciliation.

The liability for violations and the sanctions established in this Law expire after the passage of a time limit of three years, which begins to run from the date on which the violation was committed, and if any sanction has been imposed, from the date on which the decision imposing it was notified to the violator.

The limitation period is interrupted by:

a)The notification to the violator of the order instituting the procedure to determine their liability.

b)The notification of the decision determining the liability of the violator and the sanction imposed on them.

c)The express or tacit acknowledgment, by the person identified as violator, that they committed the violation.

d)By any written act or filing by the person identified as violator within the administrative file, or any other type of action performed by a public official or professional who is vested with public faith.

e)The waiver by the violator of the completed limitation period.