(Finance) – According to the president of the Antitrust Authority, Roberto Rustichellithe mystery shopping – a method for detecting the quality provided by the services – it can be very useful for identifying commercial practices that violate the rights of consumers but it would be advisable to make use of the collaboration in this sense, as in other cases, between the Antitrust and the Guardia di Finanza and more generally it would be necessary to better define procedures and methods. In hearing Rustichelli reminded the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the Protection of Consumers and Users that the law allows mystery shopping to be carried out using “persons specifically appointed”, opening the space for recourse to persons in the absence of specifications regarding the public nature of the persons in charge private. “The Authority believes that they should be carefully defined procedures and modalities of verify by the counterparties, to safeguard the right of defense and the contradictory procedural“, he added.
As for the Register of Oppositions which will come into force this summer, Rustichelli spoke of “a positive step forward in contrasting the invasive modus operandi of telemarketing operators, but it is doubtful whether this reform is sufficient” and perhaps “it would therefore be useful to reflect on a change of perspective , thinking of a register of inclusions. Rustichelli’s proposal would consist of a list to which those who want to receive offers commercial on the phone they should sign up and to which operators should turn to select potential recipients of theirs phone calls. “The idea – he underlined – derives from the consolidated experience of the Authority, for which systems that provide for their explicit and preventive choice of a service (opt-in) rather than a mechanism for which they must take action to refuse it (opt-out).
Other proposal presented by the Antitrust is that of a provision that provides that “the contractual obligation arise only following confirmation of the offer, by the consumer, in writing “. The president explained that” although the Authority has carried out numerous procedures over the last few years aimed at ascertaining and sanctioning unfair business practices in question, the interventions and consequent measures adopted by the Authority were found to be ineffective in countering the phenomenon of deceptive and / or unsolicited activations “.” The dimension of the phenomenon – he added – would undoubtedly deserve a more significant investment and tools other than those necessary and repeated investigative and sanctioning interventions.
Rustichelli’s proposals were welcomed by consumer associations. The Codacons in a note, it approved the proposal which provides that the contractual obligation arises only following the confirmation of the offer, by the consumer, in writing. “This is a measure that Codacons has been asking for for years – said the president Carlo Rienzi – Every year thousands of contracts for the supply of electricity and gas are extorted by telephone from consumers through aggressive, deceptive and incorrect practices, without providing users with adequate information about the contractual conditions or the right of withdrawal “.
The Antitrust proposal also found agreement Assoutenti, provided that the measure does not turn into an excess of bureaucracy to the detriment of users. “For this reason, we ask SPID to bind the acceptance of offers on electricity and gas or the cancellation of existing contracts, making the most of the opportunities offered by digital so as to put a definitive halt to supplies activated in a deceptive way and with consent extorted by telephone from users “, said the president Furio Truzzi. ForNational Union of Consumers the new rules should also include higher penalties for violating the rules. “We also need sanctions with higher amounts, which have a real deterrent effect against misconduct,” he said Marco Vignolahead of the energy sector of the UNC.
“Today, from the hearing of the Antitrust president, important information, ideas and useful suggestions for the protection of consumers on issues such as data protection, e-commerce, mystery shopping, distance contracts, telemarketing, costs of ascertaining fines, requests for adjustments prescribed by the municipalities, ”he wrote on Twitter Simone Baldelli, President of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on Consumer and User Protection, commenting on today’s hearing of the Antitrust President. “The consumer protection commission will also work together with the Antitrust on some of these issues to investigate the critical issues and imagine hypotheses of solutions”, he finally assured him.