Once again the difficult battle of the consumer who wants to assert their rights and tries to defend them in a jungle of disservices and rip-offs passes through the corridors of the European Parliament . The Italian government has in fact approved a legislative decree which, as foreseen by the European directive 2013/11 , establishes new alternative procedures for the resolution of disputes , in order to reduce the use of courtrooms and lawyers. In particular, the legislative decree approved by the Council of Ministers, which will now have to be published in the Official Journal, regulates the procedures for out-of-court resolution of all disputes, whether national or cross-border, concerning “the contractual obligations deriving from contracts of sale or services between professionals established in the Union and consumers resident in the EU through the intervention of an organism Adr (Alternative dispute resolution )”. It is precisely this English acronym (which translates into Italian is very similar to the out-of-court dispute resolution) that represents the extra weapon to facilitate the lives of consumers , allowing faster times in the resolution of disputes with very low or no costs.
Who are the Adr bodies? The Ministry of Justice with the Ministry of Economic Development for Consumer Mediation, Consob (ie the supervisory authority on financial markets) for disputes between investors and intermediaries for the breach by the latter of information obligations , correctness and transparency, the Authority for Electricity, Gas, the Water System ( AEEGSI ), the Authority for Communications Guarantees ( AGCOM ) and the Bank of Italy for their respective areas of competence. So, if you want to challenge a retailerof appliances that the latest model of smartphone purchased does not work or that the TV has broken after a few days, but even if you want to get compensation from the mediator for a wrong or not transparent investment, you will not have to resort to ordinary justice, but it will be enough to contact the competent body Adr for matters and ask for help.
How it works The alternative dispute resolution procedure, which has a maximum duration of 90 days , is not a process and does not end with a decision on who is wrong and who is right. It is simply a meeting of the parties in front of a third party (the conciliator) who, inviting them to better explain the reasons for the conflict, helps them to dialogue in a climate of greater trust and to reach an agreement for the resolution of the dispute. All in the name of “independence, impartiality, transparency, effectiveness and speed”.
The nodal point of the decree provides, in fact, that the parties can participate in the procedures Adr without obligation of legal assistance, knowing that it is an independent opinion. A bit like the financial banking arbitrator , another body born in 2009 deals with the resolution of disputes in all disputes related to banking and financial services (other than investment), including loans for purchase of the house. Then, if an agreement is reached, this takes on the value of a contract, effectively between the parties. But otherwise no consequences are incurred and each party retains the right to initiate a case in court .