June 08, 2023.- 90% of the cases handled by the Consumer Arbitration System are resolved satisfactorily for consumers, a free public service that, through extrajudicial means, helps to resolve conflicts between consumers and companies. Currently, more than 100,000 companies are voluntarily adhering to the Consumer Arbitration System.
In Castilla y León, 2022, 5,640 requests for arbitration were received: 2,984 in the Autonomous Arbitration Boards and 2,656 in the municipal ones. In total, in Spain, during the same period, more than 72,000 requests for arbitration were filed, approximately 63% more than the previous year, the vast majority related to basic services (energy, gas or water), telecommunications (Internet, telephony…) or consumer goods (food or beverages, appliances, furniture…).
In Spain there are 60 Consumer Arbitration Boards of a regional, provincial or municipal nature. In order for one of them to take charge, two requirements must be given: that the dispute is not about intoxications, injuries, deaths or rational signs of crime; and that the company accepts arbitration, either prior to the emergence of the conflict by making an offer to join the arbitration system, or by accepting a specific conflict.
New portal: How arbitration works
With the aim that the number of satisfactory resolutions for consumers continues to increase and citizens know this public instrument, the ministry led by Alberto Garzón has created the portal justoparaeso.consumo.gob.es. Through the web, consumers will be able to know the advantages of the Consumer Arbitration System, locate the nearest Arbitration Board or download the arbitration request form, among other issues.
The Consumer Arbitration System allows the initiation of an arbitration process between consumers and companies that have not reached an agreement after a claim.
Thus, both parties voluntarily entrust an arbitration board (normally the one that corresponds to each citizen depending on his or her domicile) to resolve the dispute by acting with impartiality and independence.
To do this, it is necessary for the consumer to provide, together with the request for arbitration, the documents that prove the object of that claim (contract, invoices, budgets, payments made…).
The decision of the corresponding arbitration board, known as an award, is binding on both parties and has the same effectiveness as a judgment, but without the need to reach the judicial path.
In addition, it is a quick decision. The time limit for issuing the award is 90 days from the beginning of the arbitral proceedings, once the proceedings have been completed, and may not be extended beyond a period of more than two months.
In this way, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs guarantees citizens to have at their disposal, free of charge and effectively, a public service to resolve possible disagreements that arise in their consumer relations with companies.