O Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), with the National Secretariat for Consumer Defense (Senacon), fined Iberia Cia Aérea R$ 1.300.000,00, (one million, three hundred thousand reais) after canceling 4 thousand round trip tickets between Rio de Janeiro and Paris.
For the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, the legislation on consumer relations is clear in highlighting the “respect for the dignity, health, safety and protection of the economic interest of the citizen”.
The Minister also clarifies that the amounts collected from the fines are directed to the MJSP's Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Rights, “that helps in the preservation, prevention or repair of damage caused to the environment, to the consumer, to goods and rights of artistic, aesthetic, historical, touristic, landscape value, for violation of the economic order and other diffuse and collective interests.”
Senacon's fine is based on the violation of Articles 4 and 20 of the Consumer Defense Code (CDC), which require companies to create “efficient means of controlling the quality and safety of products and services, as well as alternative mechanisms for resolving consumer disputes”. There is no appeal against the decision and Iberia has 30 days to pay the established amounts.
According to the Secretariat, the Iberia procedure failed to comply with the contractual obligation, since the airline did not clearly inform the consumer about the promotion, announcing in the press the price of U$ 118 (R$ 637,20 at this Friday's quotation). The original value of the stretch, according to Iberia, is U$ 1.180 or R$ 6.372, in today's quotation.
The fine is also ed by the fact that the promotion launched on December 28, 2021 was only available for three hours on the internet ticket sales sites and the tickets were only canceled 72 hours later.
The company claimed that it was “gross error when ing prices” and that this error took on a larger projection than desired.
“There are specific sites that survey prices below those practiced in the market”, defends Iberia. According to the airline, it was a human error and not a promotional error and all appropriate measures were taken.
Senacon said that the decision and the establishment of the fine are also based on the Consumer Protection Code, due to the frustration of the buyer's expectations. At the same time, according to the CDC, when offering a product, Iberia assumes responsibility for the business risk.
