If you are unhappy with any product or service hired by our company, we suggest that you first contact us by email: qualidade@grupo-cimai.com.

We will surely appreciate your complaint with all care and exemption, and respond to you in good time.

However, CIMAI also provides the following link from the General Directorate of Consumers, where it can inform itself on how to resolve a consumer conflict. Know more here

We also provide easy access to a list of Alternative Dispute Resolution Entities: Know more here

 

Resolução Alternativa de Litígios de Consumo

A Lei nº 144/2015 de 08 de setembro, veio transpor a Diretiva 2013/EU, do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho, de 21 de maio de 2013, sobre a resolução alternativa de litígios de consumo.

O referido diploma estabelece o enquadramento jurídico dos mecanismos de Resolução Alternativa de Litígios de Consumo, criando em Portugal a Rede de Arbitragem de Consumo.

These are disputes initiated by a consumer against a supplier of goods or services, which concern contractual obligations resulting from contracts for the purchase and sale or provision of services, entered into between a supplier of goods or service provider established and consumers residing in Portugal and in the European Union (article 2 nº 1 of Law nº 144/2015.

ADR are mechanisms available to consumers and companies to try to resolve consumer disputes out of court, in a faster and cheaper way. ADR covers mediation, conciliation and arbitration. The ADR process begins with an attempt to reach an agreement via mediation or conciliation. However, if this agreement is not reached, the parties can still appeal to the Arbitral Tribunal, through a simple and quick process.

What are RAL entities?
They are independent entities, with specialized personnel, who impartially help the consumer and the company to reach a friendly solution. These entities are authorized to carry out the mediation, conciliation and arbitration of consumer disputes. These entities must be registered in the list provided for in article 17 of Law nº 144/2015.



The Consumer Directorate-General is the national authority responsible for organizing the registration and dissemination of the list of ADR entities (see ANNEX I).



In Portugal, there are ten Consumer Conflict Arbitration Centers. Seven of them are of generic competence and of regional scope, being located in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Guimarães, Braga/Viana do Castelo, Algarve and Madeira. There is also the national territorial center (supplementary), the CNIACC - National Center for Information and Arbitration of Consumer Conflicts. There are also two specific competence centers specializing in the automotive sector and the insurance sector.



The place of conclusion of the contract for the purchase and sale of goods or the provision of services, which as a rule coincides with the place of establishment, determines the competent arbitration center.

Exemplifying:

A company that has only one or more commercial establishments in a given municipality should only indicate the RAL entity that has the competence to settle disputes in that municipality.

A company that carries out its activity throughout the national territory must indicate all the competent authorities.
A vehicle repair shop, an insurance company or a travel agency must indicate the specialized entities for these sectors.

All suppliers of goods and service providers, including those who only sell products or provide services via the Internet, are obliged to inform consumers about the available ADR entities or to which they have voluntarily joined or are bound by law. Only providers of Services of General Interest without economic consideration are excluded, such as social services provided by the state or on its behalf, health services and public services of complementary or higher education.

The obligations arising from Law No. 144/2015 apply, mutatis mutandis, to all economic sectors not excluded by the aforementioned law, including those where there is already specific legislation providing for the same obligation.



This law does not impose membership of any ADR entity, establishing only a duty of information on existing entities. However, there is the case of arbitration necessary for essential public services, such as electricity, gas, water and waste, electronic communications and postal services.



This information must be provided in a clear, understandable and appropriate way for the type of good and service that is sold or provided (article 18 nº 2 of Law nº 144/2015). So:

On the website of the suppliers of goods or service providers, if any.

In contracts of purchase and sale or provision of services between the supplier of goods or service provider and the consumer, when these take a written form or constitute adhesion contracts.
If there is no written form, the information must be provided on another durable medium, namely on a sign posted on the wall or on the sales counter or on the invoice delivered to the consumer.

Not. However, a proposal for the formulation of a sign is attached (Annex II).

It is incumbent upon the Food and Economic Safety Authority and the sectoral regulators in the respective domains, to monitor compliance with these duties, investigate the respective administrative offense proceedings and decide on these proceedings, including the application of fines and accessory sanctions if necessary.

Failure to comply with the duty to inform suppliers of goods or service providers constitutes an administrative offence, punishable by:

Fine between €500 and €5000, when committed by a natural person.

Fine between €5,000 and €25,000 when committed by a legal person.

Law nº 144/2015 of September 8, came into force on September 23, 2015, and suppliers of goods or service providers had 6 months, counted from that date, to adapt to this new regime. Therefore, since March 23, 2016 companies must have this information available to their consumers.

ATTENTION: Consumer information on available ADR entities does not exempt suppliers of goods and service providers from providing consumers with the Complaints Book, mandatory under Decree-Law nº 156/2005, of 15 September.

Entity List  Annex 1