The Commission for the Protection of User Rights in HAKOM in 2017 resolved 1558 disputes

ZAGREB, 2 February 2018 - The Commission for the Protection of User Rights has submitted an Annual Work Report for the previous calendar year to the HAKOM’s Council. During 2017, a total of 1467 disputes concerning the electronic communications, 77 disputes  related to postal services and 14 disputes related to railway services were processed at the Commission’s sessions. These disputes refer to the provision of public communications services, the amount of debt for the provided service, the quality of services, the violation of the pre-contractual provisions and right to protection of open access to the Internet as well as disputes between users and postal service providers, disputes between passengers and railway carriers.
 
Based on the collected data, documentation and statements of the parties in the proceedings, the Commission established the facts and circumstances for each individual case  in accordance with the Electronic Communications Act, the Postal Services Act and the Law on the Regulation of the Railway Services Market and the Protection of the Rights of Passengers in Rail Transport as well as general acts of HAKOM. In addition the Commission submitted proposal or opinion on the resolution of the dispute to HAKOM. Out of 1467 disputes in reference to the electronic communications, the total of 669 disputes was accepted as user’s complaints and 343 cases were concluded through dispute resolution proceeding. The cases terminated by resolution were partly dismissed because of lack of HAKOM’s competence, the lack of other formal assumptions for carrying out  the proceedings, (the user exceeded due  date or has not conducted the prescribed dispute settlement procedure within the prescribed deadline ) and some of the proceedings were suspended as a rule because the operator adopted the customer's complaint during HAKOM’s procedure). In cases that have been rejected due to the lack of formal assumptions, it is considered that the subscribers appeal to the competent institution where they can exercise their rights as well as to provide instruction on the dispute settlement procedure for possible future situations. The most frequent complaints from users of electronic communications services concerned complaints about the Internet service and complaints regarding the lack of essential information about services (in general, they are related to the lack of understanding of the conditions and prices expressed in the request for establishing subscriber’s relation)
 
Compared to 2016, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of initiated users’ disputes with postal service providers as a result of increased efforts by HAKOM to provide education and information to the users of postal services on their rights and obligations. Referring to the complaints the majority referred to content damage or content reduction within the parcel was well as partly/completely unperformed services. Most of the disputes between passengers and Railway Company were related to  the payment of an amount of 500 HRK for driving without a transportation ticket which must be paid regardless of destination and rank of train. Compared to the previous years, there was a noticeable decrease in the number of cases where HAKOM decided not to file the complaint since no procedural preconditions were fulfilled, i.e. the passenger did not file a complaint to the Commission at the railway operator and HAKOM in due time or the complaint has not be submitted to the Commission at all.

The Commission for the Protection of User Rights consists of seven members, out of which five members are within HAKOM's Professional Service, and two members are representatives of consumer associations. The Committee’s sessions are closed and held when necessary at least once a month.
For more information on the Report on the Work of Commissions for the Protection of User Rights in 2017 please contact the following link.

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For additional information please contact:
Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM)
Roberta Frangeša Mihanovića 9
10110 Zagreb, Croatia
Tel. + 385 (0) 1 700 70 07
Fax + 385 (0)1 700 70 70

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