Dear Customer,

Law No. 144/2015 of 8 September 2015 was published in the Official Gazette, transposing Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative resolution of consumer disputes, and establishes the legal framework for out-of-court dispute resolution mechanisms, repealing Decree-Law No. 146/99, of 4 May, and no. 60/2011, of 6 May.

This Law creates obligations for companies and entities that want to carry out the out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes and also creates a Consumer Arbitration Network.

It also determines that the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs is the competent authority to monitor the functioning of those entities, establishing the principles and rules that the functioning of alternative consumer dispute resolution entities must comply with, and the legal framework of resolution entities. extrajudicial handling of consumer disputes in Portugal.

Companies that supply goods or provide services in Portugal are obliged from 03/23/2016 to inform consumers about the arbitration centres they can use to resolve disputes.

We therefore inform you that in the event of a dispute, the consumer can resort to one of the RAL entities – Alternative Resolution of Consumer Disputes, included in the list available on the Consumer Portal www.consumidor.pt