The Consumer Ombudsman’s supervision measures and sanctions

The Consumer Ombudsman may decide, according to legislation, when and how to intervene in illegal practices to ensure compliance with the law. The Consumer Ombudsman exercises discretion in assessing when action should be taken and what supervisory measures are necessary to use.

The Consumer Ombudsman’s supervision measures consist of investigative powers and sanctions.

The Consumer Ombudsman’s powers of investigation include the right to obtain information, the right to carry out on-site inspections and the right to make test purchases. Sanctions include prohibitions imposed by the Consumer Ombudsman, prohibitions imposed by the Market Court, penalty fees imposed by the Market Court, and powers related to the online interface and domain names.

The Authority of the Consumer Ombudsman in Supervision

The Consumer Ombudsman has primary authority in the supervision of regulations to assess whether a particular practice is in violation of the regulations, what actions it will take, and what sanctions it will apply in the matter.

The Consumer Ombudsman’s obligation to negotiate is part of the advisory activities of the Consumer Ombudsman. The aim is for entrepreneurs to receive information about the practices of resolution and the basis of the Consumer Ombudsman’s requirements so that they can voluntarily refrain from illegal practices.

Prohibition imposed by the Consumer Ombudsman

The Consumer Ombudsman may impose a prohibition in a matter that is not significant in terms of application of law, i.e. where the decision is not considered to set a precedent.

The purpose of such a prohibition is not to compensate for what has happened in the past, but, rather, to prevent any unlawful action that might take place in the future. The Consumer Ombudsman may issue a notice of a penalty payment fine in order to lend force to the prohibition. A prohibition may also be imposed on those employed by the entrepreneur.

The Consumer Ombudsman may impose a prohibition on a temporary basis, if there is reason to urgently prevent an illegal procedure due to the broad scope of the matter, the immediate impact of the illegal procedure, or for some other, special reason.

Prohibition imposed by the Market Court

The Consumer Ombudsman may refer an unlawful practice to the Market Court if the trader has not voluntarily changed the practice considered illegal. In this case, the Consumer Ombudsman requests the Market Court to impose a prohibition on the trader’s practice.

The Consumer Ombudsman may bring the matter to the Market Court if there is, for example, a need to obtain a preliminary ruling from the court, even if the trader has stated that it does not intend to repeat the illegal practice.

In the decisions of the Market Court, it has been consistently held that in determining a prohibition based on illegal conduct, it is essential to assess the legality of the trader’s previous actions, not whether the conduct has changed or ceased. The Consumer Ombudsman’s application to the Market Court is based on the practice carried out by the trader, which the Consumer Ombudsman considers to be illegal.

The application should describe the subject matter of the dispute and details of the case.

The Market Court may, at the request of the Consumer Ombudsman, issue a temporary prohibition, in which case the prohibition will remain in force until the matter is finally resolved.

Penalty fee imposed by the Market Court

The Market Court may impose a penalty fee if a company violates the rules defined in the law concerning certain powers of consumer authorities. The Market Court may impose a penalty fee at the request of the Consumer Ombudsman.

A penalty fee shall not be proposed or imposed if the violation is minor or if imposing the penalty fee would be considered manifestly unreasonable.

A penalty fee may be left unproposed or not imposed if the entrepreneur has taken sufficient measures to rectify the violation immediately after it has been detected and if the violation is not serious or repeated.

Intervening in unlawful online content

In exceptional cases, the Consumer Ombudsman may intervene in content published in a digital environment that clearly violates consumer protection provisions. Such intervention is possible in situations where the collective interest of consumers could be seriously damaged.

The Consumer Ombudsman may order the following:

  • the removal of content from a website or social media platform
  • blocking or restricting access to a specific website
  • the service provider must display a clear warning to consumers when they visit the website
  • disabling of the domain name or transferring it to the Consumer Ombudsman.

Temporary orders may also be issued, which remain in force until the matter has been fully resolved.

Right to obtain information

The Consumer Ombudsman has the right to obtain, free of charge, information needed in its investigations from the enterprise subject to supervision and from other private entities and persons. Information shall be obtained without prejudice to confidentiality provisions.

Right of inspection

The Consumer Ombudsman has the right to carry out an on-site inspection on the company’s premises if such an inspection is necessary to carry out the Ombudsman’s supervisory task. The inspection may be carried out without prior notice.

Upon request, the Consumer Ombudsman has the right to receive executive assistance from the police to carry out the on-site inspection.

Test purchases

The Consumer Ombudsman may make test purchases if such purchases are necessary for the performance of the Ombudsman’s supervisory task. In particular, test purchases can be used to monitor compliance with legislation during and after a purchase transaction. The Consumer Ombudsman can make test purchases both in physical business premises and online.

In test purchases, the Ombudsman’s representative may present as a consumer, i.e. the Consumer Ombudsman has the right to use a false identity in order to avoid the test purchase being exposed.

The Consumer Ombudsman must notify the business and the controller of the use of false identity as soon as possible without jeopardising the purpose of the test purchase.

The authorities have the same right of withdrawal as consumers in test purchases.