Consumer Extremism: A Scarecrow for Business or a Legal Right

The Belarusian business community is increasingly complaining about consumer extremism. However, there is no such concept in the law, and the courts often side with the buyers. About the boundaries between the protection of their rights and an attempt to cash in on business, the correspondent of the agency “Minsk-Novosti” talked with the Chairman of the Board of the NGO “Regional Society for Consumer Protection” Dmitry Malts.

The photo is illustrative, created by AI

Legal phantoms

— Dmitry Andreevich, is the scale of the problem really so great?

- The term “consumer extremism” is a legal myth. There is no such concept in Belarusian legislation. But there is Article 9 in the Civil Code, which neatly describes “abuse of the right”. This rule is created precisely in order to cool the fervor of any party to the transaction, if its only purpose is to intentionally harm the other party.

So hanging labels with a criminal connotation on people is overkill. The law is different: it was originally created to protect the ordinary person, not to play along with business.

When a competent buyer politely but firmly asks to comply with service standards or to remove items written in small print from the contract, he is not engaged in consumer extremism. It helps the market become more civilized.

Business forums sometimes talk about the “growing scale” of the problem. But such statements are not supported by official statistics.

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What business argues

- Now state bodies are working on amendments to the relevant legislation. What are the real issues discussed at the expert level and where is the boundary of interests of the parties?

- Working discussions were held at the site of the public advisory council at MART. And they dealt with tangible gaps, not mythical consumer extremism. For example, a significant part of disputes today is generated by online commerce. Most of all complaints received by MART are related to online platforms.

One of the main questions: who should be responsible for low-quality goods - the marketplace itself or a non-resident seller who is located in another country? The position of public associations of consumers is logical: the Internet platform should act as a guarantor of the rights of the buyer, if it is impossible to directly prosecute a conditional foreign seller. The business counters that the site is only an intermediary and cannot force a third-party seller to fulfill the requirements. Here the legislator has to find a delicate balance.

Another topic is the return of expensive technical goods. Dealers often face a situation where the buyer uses complex equipment for months, finds a small defect and requires a full return of the original cost. Business unions offer the norm: when returning such goods, take into account the percentage of wear and reduce the amount of payment. This could actually reduce the number of borderline, questionable claims. A good buyer should not suffer from this.

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Statistics against stereotypes

- And yet, when it comes to conflict, on whose side is the jurisprudence?

- The numbers are sobering. Last year, the courts of general jurisdiction heard 1,922 civil disputes in the field of consumer protection. And in 1,771 cases, the claims were granted.

That is, in the vast majority of conflicts, the law is not violated by citizens, but by sellers and performers of services. The growing number of claims suggests that people have become more literate and have stopped waving their hand at explicit marriage.

For example, only our public association receives more than 15 thousand applications per year. However, only a small part of the conflicts go to court.

The laws of Belarus allow the parties to negotiate effectively without litigation. Of course, it is impossible to deny that individuals try to interpret the law too freely in search of personal gain. But single curiosities do not make the weather.

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The price of illusion

- How do you determine that the appeal is not a real resentment, but a desire to simply torture the business?

- Before taking on the protection of a person in court, our lawyers carefully analyze the situation. It is important for them to understand: are the claims justified? Have you taken steps towards reconciliation? Has an official claim been filed?

Sometimes at the reception, citizens "forget" to bring important checks or slightly distort the story. But in court, any understatement instantly turns against the plaintiff himself: thanks to video recordings, checks and correspondence in messengers, the truth is quickly established.

We are always reminded of the financial consequences of losing. If the court finds the claims unfounded, the seeker of easy profit will have to pay a state fee, cover the costs of the store for lawyers and compensate for the cost of expensive commodity examinations. As a result, instead of enrichment, a person receives an impressive bill for his own self-confidence.

Case in point

One of the buyers considered that he bought a new car with defects, but refused pre-trial examination. Since the dealership denied the marriage, the court ordered an expensive forensic examination: there were no defects in the car at all. As a result, the claim was denied completely, and the court ordered the losing consumer to reimburse all costs: pay for forensic examination, compensate for the services of a lawyer from the dealership and pay a large state fee, which was calculated from the cost of the car.

This story clearly proves that saving on an independent pre-trial review and hoping for it will only lead to huge financial losses. After all, the trial is based solely on official evidence, and not on personal confidence and emotions.