4 January 2019
The national Consumer Advisory Service that operated at the Local Register Offices has become a part of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) starting from 1 January 2019. The change does not affect the content of the service. The advisory service numbers will remain the same. The Consumer Advisory Service also offers advice to companies in questions related to consumer legislation.
Information about consumer rights and the services offered by the Consumer Advisory Service as well as assistance with the most common problem situations is available online at kuluttajaneuvonta.fi (also in English). There consumers can draw up a complaint for a company with the Complaint assistant. The Consumer Advisory Service may also be contacted via online services.
The fastest way to contact the Consumer Advisory Service is on weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm by telephone at 029 553 6901. The service is available in Swedish at 029 553 6902. Calls (including waiting time) to telephone numbers beginning 0295 at the FCCA are charged at the local network rate if they are made from landlines, and at the mobile network rate if made from mobile telephones. The rate depends on the caller’s agreement with the telephone operator.
You can also follow the Consumer Advisory Service on Facebook and Instagram (in Finnish mostly).
Consumer rights advice and assistance with resolving disputes
The Consumer Advisory Service is a national service that provides information on applying consumer protection legislation, personal advice, and mediation assistance in disputes between consumers and businesses.
The Consumer Advisory Service does not handle disputes between private persons or disputes between businesses, disputes between housing companies and residents, or disputes, in which a private person has sold something to a business. Transactions concerning financial instruments and shares as well as matters related to state or municipal services are also outside the authority of the Consumer Advisory Service. The advisory service handles approximately 80,000 contacts per year.
Starting from 2009, the Consumer Advisory Service operated in connection with the local register offices. When the decision to merge the local register offices with the Population Register Centre was made in 2017, it was also decided to transfer the Consumer Advisory Service at the same time to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, which is a better fit for it both functionally and structurally.