The number of checks needs to be increased, particularly by recruiting more staff to conduct lab analyses, the ULC says.
ULC President Nico Hoffmann slammed exorbitant bank fees, demanding that they should be “dropped o at least drastically lowered” for vulnerable people and those over the age of 65 who still prefer to conduct their financial transactions through in person. The ULC accuses the banks, mainly Spuerkeess and Post, of closing branches and ATMs “in cold blood.” According to Hoffmann, “all they care about is money,” and it is the future government’s obligation to “put an end to this in the interest of the consumer.” The ULC further requests that the government take action to ensure that cash is still accepted as a mode of payment everywhere.
The ULC generally welcomes the measures decided by the last tripartite, even if it thinks that the tax relief measures, such as the adjustment of the tax table to inflation, came too late and are not executed decisively enough.
The Consumer Protection Association regrets that the Council of State has yet to release the draft bill on class-action lawsuits, delaying the vote in the Chamber of Deputies. As for individual lawsuits, the ULC demands that procedures be simplified because, in many situations, “the effort surpasses the damages, which is not in the consumer’s interest.”
