CIAB consolidates “efficient and free service” in resolving consumer complaints

In a session held in the Municipality of Vila Verde, the general assembly of the CIAB – Consumer Arbitration Court, with jurisdiction to intervene in 19 municipalities in the districts of Braga, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real, approved the Activity and Financial Execution Report for the year 2023.

In the session, representatives of the different associated institutions highlighted the importance and positive impact of the Arbitration Court’s intervention in mediating conflicts and consumer relations with service providers, considered to be of great relevance to people’s daily lives.

The Mayor of Vila Verde, Júlia Rodrigues Fernandes, highlighted the high success rate of CIAB’s activity, recording the resolution of 94% of dispute cases within an average period of 65 days.

The mayor highlighted the social impact of the intervention as a Consumer Arbitration Court, stressing that these are “cases where essential public services for citizens are at stake, such as gas, electricity, telecommunications, water, sanitation and waste”.

“In addition to removing a large volume of cases from ordinary courts, the Arbitration Court provides an efficient and free service for citizens, and is also an extremely cheap structure for the State”, pointed out Júlia Rodrigues Fernandes. In this context, she expressed recognition of the work of the team led by Fernando Viana, executive director of CIAB.

As part of the assessment of the activity and financial execution report for the year 2023 and the opinions of the Fiscal Council and Technical-Financial Council, the consolidation of the activity of the CIAB – Consumer Arbitration Court in the districts of Braga and Viana was highlighted, being in ongoing projects to extend coverage in the district of Vila Real to CIM do Alto Tâmega.

Currently, the coverage area for resolving consumer conflicts covers the 10 municipalities in the district of Viana do Castelo, Montalegre and Amares, Braga, Barcelos, Esposende, Póvoa de Lanhoso, Terras de Bouro, Vieira do Minho and Vila Verde. CIAB is also associated with institutions such as DECO – Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO), União Geral dos Consumidores (UCG), business associations from Braga, Barcelos and Esposende, the University of Minho and the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs.