Practical experiences of Practical experiences of consumer organisations consumer organisations in collective redress: in collective redress: ItalyItaly

Marco PieraniHead of Public Affairs,

Seminar on Collective Seminar on Collective RedressRedress

24 October 2013 - Belgrade

21 aprile 2023 2

Who is Altroconsumo? The first and most popular Italian consumer organization

ALTROCONSUMO

is a consumer organization set up in Milan in 1973 It is independent, effective and representative It is ackowledged by law ex art. 137 – Codice del Consumo (Dlgs. 206/2005) and member of CNCU It’s member of BEUC – the European umbrella organisation that brings together 42 consumer associations from 30 European countries – since 1978 It is member of Consumers International (220 associations from 115 nations)

Our activity in figures (2012):

350.000 members more than 487.000 advices 390 public partecipations, 36 AGCM complaints, 90 dossiers more than 7.800 media presences more than 7.000.000 visits to www.altroconsumo.it more than 14.000 followers on Twitter, 91.000 like on Facebook 7 magazines and numerous guides more than 100 test 208 professionals on consumer side

Outline of the presentation

Collective Redress in Italy

The Italian law on Class Action

The Class Actions of Altroconsumo: a brief

introduction

VAT on Waste Tax Class Action: a bit more

in depth

VAT on Waste Tax Class Action: different

phases and integrated communication

(Non) conclusions

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Collective Redress In Italy

• Injunctions (artt 139-140 Consumer Code) – Recognized consumers associations are entitled to ask the

Court to inhibit acts and behaviors prejudicial to the interests of consumers; take appropriate measures to correct or eliminate the harmful effects of violations;

• “Public class action” Legislative Decree 198 of 2009 – Consumers and users have the right to collectively protect

their interests against misconducts perpetrated by public agencies or private corporations providing public services in front of Administrative Court

• “Civil class action” Law approved on 2nd July 2009 and following modified, introducing article 140bis

on the Italian Consumer Code

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Art 140 bis of the Italian Consumer Code – legitimation

• consumers with homogenous interests have the right to file a class action against a private corporation for the determination of liability and the condemnation to damages and refunds.

• Consumers may act individually or through associations to which they give a mandate.

• In order to initiate an action, the plaintiff must file a complaint with the civil trial court in the capital of the respective Region, where the corporation’s headquarter resides

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Art 140 bis of the Italian Consumer Code – admissibility

• The court have to evaluate: – if the actions is manifestly unfounded;– If there is a conflict of interest;– if the main plaintiff can adequately represent the interests

of the class– and if the rights of the proposed class members are

homogenous (not anymore identic)

• In case the class action is not admitted on the basis of one of the above mentioned reasons the plaintiff may be ordered to pay legal costs and negative publicity

• By the order with which admits the action the court sets the terms and conditions for the most appropriate publicity for the timely collection of adhesion, within 4 months

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Art 140 bis of the Italian Consumer Code – causes of action

• breach of contract• unfair commercial practices• Anticompetitive behaviors• product liability• (and from 2012 also) service

liability

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Art 140 bis of the Italian Consumer Code – opt-in system

• If a consumer wants to be bound by the court’s decision, he must join the class and file his documentation, listing the elements of fact and law on which his claim is based.

• Nonetheless, joining the class does not imply that the party will directly participate in the proceedings, and, for this reason, he will join the class without the representation of a lawyer.

• A consumer may also decide not to opt-in. In this case he will be able to file a separate individual action.

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Class Actions RAI and Banca Intesa

• Altroconsumo vs RAI –• Our First Class Action

launched in 2010 for various violation by RAI of the Public Service Contract, among which the talk show stoppage

• Our Claim for all the adherents: 500 Euro

• Over 50.000 pre-adhesions• Finally rejected by the Court

of Appeal of Roma in July

• Altroconsumo vs Banca Intesa San Paolo –

• Class Action launched for recovering illegal fees applied by Banca Intesa San Paolo since 2009 when their clients went in red in their accounts

• Our Claim for all the adherents: reimbursement of illegal fees undue paid

• It is the first of our class actions having passed the admissibility barrier. Pending before the Court of Torino

• We formalized the collection of adhesions by the end of 2012 as required by the Judge: only 102 formal adhesions

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Class Actions Ferries and Trenord• Altroconsumo vs Moby, Snav, Grandi Navi Veloci and Forship –

• Class Action launched in 2011 for the reimbursement of extra prices paid by passengers as a consequence of the anomalous increases for ferries to Sardinia.

• Our Claim for all the adherents: reimbursement of 50% of the tickets prices

• The Court of Genova in November 2012 suspended the decision on the admissibility of the class action awaiting the decision of the Antitrust on the cartel, which is finally arrived in June: More than 8 millions Euro fine!

• We have collected over 7.000 pre-adhesions.

• Altroconsumo vs Trenord – • Class action related to the chaos of

December 2012 when the delays and cancellations of trains have caused many and significant inconveniences to commuters for several days in Lombardy Region

• Our Claim for all the adherents: the equivalent of three months of subscription fee

• We have collected over 15.000 pre-adhesions

• First hearing in November before the Court of Milano

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Class Action VAT on Waste Tax

• Altroconsumo vs 8 Municipal Companies – • What consumers pay for the waste services (so called

TIA) is a tax so it should not be subjected to VAT as already stated clearly in 2009 by the Constitutional Court and confirmed in 2012 also by the Court of Cassation

• The Government, which we brought 35.000 signatures in a petition, recognized that consumers who have paid VAT on TIA in the last years from a strictly legal point of view would be entitled to reimbursement, nevertheless they responded negatively to our request to find a political solution to repay all the consumers involved

• The total amount of the due refund is around 2 billion of Euros so we decided to launch a very articulated and challenging action covering large part of the national territory: 8 class action against municipal companies that manage the TIA

• Our Claim for all the adherents: the reimbursement of the VAT undue paid + interests

• The first class actions against AMA Roma and Firenze Quadrifoglio were notified, the other will be so shortly. In the Court of Rome against AMA in the Court of Florence against Quadrifoglio the first hearing will be held on November.

• We have already collected over 30.000 pre-adhesions.

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Municipal Companies target of the class action

Companies Headquarters

Territory covered

AMA Roma

Roma

Roma

HERA Spa Bologna

Emilia Romagna/Marche 

QUADRIFOGLIO Spa FirenzeToscana 

IREN Spa Reggio EmiliaEmilia 

AMIU Spa Genova Liguria

TRENTA Spa TrentoTrento/Rovereto 

VERITAS Spa VeneziaVeneto 

CONTARINA Spa TrevisoVeneto 

VAT on Waste Tax: VAT on Waste Tax: 8 Class Actions territorial coverage8 Class Actions territorial coverage

Veneto 7%

Trentino 15%

Marche10%

Emilia 72%

Liguria 37%

Toscana 28%

Lazio 56%

Datas refers to percentage of population involved in

the action

• 8 different class actions vs municipal companies that manage the wast tax

• Such municipal companies cover 7 Regions

• 217 Municipalities involved

Total 8.815.000 consumers involved14,52% of the Italian PopulationTotal 8.815.000 consumers involved14,52% of the Italian Population

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VAT on Waste Tax: 8 Class Actions + 67 VAT on Waste Tax: 8 Class Actions + 67 Warnings territorial coverageWarnings territorial coverage

Veneto 26%

Lombardia 8% Trentino

29%

Friuli 11%

Sicilia 6%

Puglia1%

Abruzzo4%

Marche

19%

Emilia 74%

Umbria

38%

Piemonte 13%

Liguria 43%

Toscana 42%

Lazio 62%

Campania 1%

Sardegna 8%

Datas refers to percentage of population involved in

the action

Total: 13.581.000 consumers involved22,37% of the Italian PopulationTotal: 13.581.000 consumers involved22,37% of the Italian Population

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VAT on Waste Tax: coverage of our VAT on Waste Tax: coverage of our actionactionPhase 1: petitionPhase 2: discover if it is possible to have the refundPhase 3: concrete actions to have the refund > 8 class actions and 67 warnings toward municipalities.

Users that can have the refund

No refund

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VAT on waste tax (Phase 2 - Sept>Oct 2012)• Message: ask the refund, or discover if you

can have the refund• Call center operator used online services to

check if the refund can be asked for

Landing Page

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VAT on waste tax: offline adv (Phase 2)

Municipalities in which the VAT was not applied

Municipalities in which the VAT was applied

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VAT on waste tax: online adv (Phase 2)DEM Facebook ADV

Google Adwords

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VAT on waste tax (Phase 3)

Offline: introduction of the class action in local adv (newspapers)

23.10.2012

COMUNICATO STAMPA

TARI FFA RI FI UTI - RI MBORSO I VA I N BALLO 2 MI LI ARDI DI EURO

ALTROCONSUMO: PARTONO 67 DI FFI DE

E 8 CLASS ACTI ON

Due miliardi di euro: è la somma che deve essere rimborsata ai cittadini che hanno pagato l’Iva sulla Tariffa d’igiene ambientale, poiché l’imposta non era dovuta, come scritto dalla Corte Costituzionale nella sentenza del 2009. La cifra non è un’ipotesi ma arriva direttamente dalla fonte più accreditata a fare i conti in tasca al Fisco: la direzione generale delle Finanze del ministero dell’Economia. Fonte che si affretta ad aggiungere, in un incontro coi rappresentanti di Altroconsumo: i soldi non li restituiremo, l'interesse generale sul rispetto del vincolo di bilancio deve prevalere sul seguire la legge. Per l’associazione di consumatori la misura è colma, come testimoniato anche dalle 35.000 adesioni di cittadini alla petizione online promossa da Altroconsumo stessa. Inviate dunque 67 diffide, 56 dirette alle principali municipalizzate più 11 Comuni che gestiscono direttamente la Tia, con l’intimazione a sospendere la riscossione dell’imposta e a rimborsare i cittadini. E partono otto class action verso le maggiori municipalizzate che coprono bacini importanti come Roma, il Veneto, l’Emilia Romagna, Livorno, la Toscana, Trento. “Più trasparenza ed efficienza da parte del Fisco: i rimborsi sono un atto dovuto e il Governo deve vigilare sull’applicazione delle leggi e sulla diffusione delle informazioni circa le agevolazioni che di diritto spettano al contribuente” ha dichiarato Paolo Martinello, presidente di Altroconsumo. Ai consumatori che chiameranno il numero verde 800.18.99.72 sarà messo a disposizione un modulo di richiesta di rimborso da inviare alla municipalizzata o al Comune di riferimento dove sia adottata la Tia. Maggiori informazioni su http://altroconsumo.it/soldi/imposte-e-tasse/news/rimborso-iva-sulla-tassa-rifiuti-dopo-il-no-definitivo.

VAT on waste tax (Phase 3) socialLanding page integrated in facebook (with a facebook app)

More than 6000 share

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• Unfortunately, the continuation of the crisis is beginning to dangerously undermine the rights of consumers which, recognized more often only on paper, have become the subject of a tiring day reconquest against both companies and Public Administration

• Abusing those who, like the final consumers, alone do not have the tools to defend themselves, places substantially in crisis also the foundations of the rule of law.

• For these reasons we have decided to devote more resources and attention to collective legal redress so that , when our traditional lobbying and advocacy do not achieve the desired results, Altroconsumo can demonstrate that consumers and citizens united are able to pull out teeth when their rights are violated.

• With our 5 class actions we have so far collected a total of over 100.000 pre-adhesions . Our class actions are open in free participation of all consumers - our members or not - the more we are, more we count!

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The most challenging, fun, engaging The most challenging, fun, engaging

class actionsclass actions

… … will be the next oneswill be the next onesthose that we have not yet even thought about those that we have not yet even thought about

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