Conciliation proceedings

Conciliation proceedings begin with the submission of a written application by the consumer addressed to the Consumer Protection Commission. Through the CPC portal users can submit their application electronically, and they must follow certain steps listed on the official website of the CPC, section “Complaints and Registers”, subsection “Conciliation Committee”

 The Conciliation Committee shall consider the dispute within 90 calendar days from the date on which it has received all the documents on the complaint; in disputes of factual and legal complexity, the conciliation committee may, at its discretion, extend this period by notifying the parties and determining the time limit necessary for resolving the dispute.

 The conciliation proceedings end with the preparation of a conciliation proposal by the conciliation committee.

 Within 10 days of receiving the conciliation proposal, the parties must send a written statement to the chair of the conciliation committee, whether they accept it or reject it.

 The conciliation proposal must be accepted or rejected by each party explicitly, unconditionally and in full. The presence of additional conditions or reservations in the written statement or the absence of such written statement within the specified period shall be treated as rejection of the conciliation proposal by the respective party to the dispute.

 The acceptance of the proposal by both parties has the force of an agreement between them.

 The parties may give effect to the agreement reached in the conciliation proceedings by submitting it for approval to the competent court.

 The conciliation proposal does not exclude the possibility of judicial remedies.

 When the parties to the dispute have concluded an agreement, but one of them does not fulfill its obligations under it, the other party may apply to the court for settlement of the dispute – subject of the agreement.

 The Sectoral conciliation committees shall not reconsider disputes between consumers and traders for which a conciliation proposal has been drawn up, whether or not the parties have accepted it.