Fairness Commission introduces processing fee
The marked increase in complaints has led the Swiss Commission for Fair Trading to take a radical measure: From January 1, 2012, fees will be introduced for certain individual complaints on a trial basis.
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, complaints to the Swiss Commission for Fair Trading (SLK) have been increasing for years. This has been particularly marked in the case of commercial communication by telephone, fax and e-mail. The increase in this area has amounted to 44 percent since 2008. As a result, the commission has reached the limits of its capacity and can hardly cope with its work with the current resources.
According to the press release, the SLK Foundation intends to introduce a processing fee of CHF 50 per complaint on a trial basis in order to ease the burden. The measure will be limited to one year. This fee does not apply to all complaints, but only to those resulting from commercial contacts by telephone, fax or e-mail. All other complaints, i.e. complaints against advertising in the public domain, will remain free of charge. This is intended to fulfill the main objective of the SLK, namely to ensure fairness in the public domain.
The SLK Foundation also sees this measure in connection with the new regulation that will apply from April 1, 2012, whereby criminal charges can be filed as an alternative to a complaint to the SLK for failure to comply with the star entry in the telephone register.
