Chapter V
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES BETWEEN CONSUMERS AND TRADERS
Section 1. GENERAL
Article 54. Methods of settling disputes between consumers and traders
1. Disputes between consumers and traders shall be settled adopting the following methods:
a) Negotiation;
b) Mediation;
c) Arbitration;
d) Courts.
2. Negotiation or mediation will not be allowed in the following cases:
a) Infringing upon national or public interests;
b) Violating a prohibition by law or being contrary to social ethics;
c) Causing damage to interests of multiple consumers, except where the number of consumers suffering from damage is fully determined.
3. The methods of settling disputes between consumers and traders may be adopted in person, online or another manner under relevant regulations of law.
Article 55. Responsibility for providing information and documents during settlement of disputes between consumers and traders
1. Related agencies, organizations and individuals shall provide sufficient, accurate and timely information and documents at the request of competent authorities and social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights during settlement of disputes between consumers and traders according to regulations of law.
2. Competent authorities and social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights shall keep confidentiality of the information and documents provided as prescribed by law.
Section 2. NEGOTIATION
Article 56. Requirements and receipt of requests for negotiation
1. Consumers are entitled to request traders to enter into negotiation.
2. Traders shall receive consumers’ negotiation requests as prescribed in Article 57 of this Law.
3. If a trader fails to respond to a consumer’s request as prescribed in Article 57 of this Law or refuses to enter into negotiation without a plausible reason, the consumer is entitled to request a consumer right protection authority or social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights to assist him/her in conducting a negotiation as his/her legitimate rights and interests are infringed upon.
Article 57. Negotiation procedures
1. A consumer shall send his/her negotiation request, related information and documents (if any) to the trader at their head office, branch, representative office or business location, through website or another contact method published or applied by the trader.
2. The trader shall receive the negotiation request and enter into negotiation with the consumer within 07 working days from the date of receipt.
3. In the case specified in clause 3 Article 56 of this Law, the consumer shall send his/her negotiation request and related information and documents in person or by post or online to the consumer right protection authority or social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights.
4. Within 07 working days from the receipt of the consumer's request, the consumer right protection authority or social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights shall transfer it to the trader requested to conduct the negotiation.
5. The trader shall negotiate with the consumer within 07 working days from the receipt of the request and notify the result in writing to the consumer right protection authority or social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights within 05 working days from the end of the negotiation.
6. In case of rejecting the consumer’s request, the trader shall, within 07 working days from the receipt of the request, give a written response clearly stating the reason for rejection.
Article 58. Cases in which requests for assistance in negotiation are not received and processed
1. The consumer is a minor or a person who has lost capacity for civil acts or has a restricted capacity for civil acts or has difficulty in awareness and control of their acts but fails to have a legal representative.
2. The person requesting assistance in negotiation is not the consumer or the consumer’s legal representative.
3. The consumer fails to provide adequate information and documents so as to accurately identify the related organization or individual or evidence related to transactions.
4. Any issue in the request for assistance in negotiation is beyond the power of the consumer right protection authority or the purpose, scope or field of operation of the social organization participating in protection of consumers’ rights.
5. The request for assistance in negotiation has been settled by a competent authority or social organization participating in protection of consumers’ rights.
Article 59. Rights and responsibilities of parties during negotiation
1. During a negotiation, the consumer and the trader have the right to:
a) Agree or refuse to participate in the negotiation as prescribed by this Law;
b) Select the time and method of negotiation;
c) Request that the negotiation be suspended or terminated;
d) Request that the negotiation be kept confidential;
dd) Have the freedom to express their opinions on the negotiation;
e) Other rights under regulations of this Law and other relevant regulations of law.
2. During a negotiation, the consumer and the trader have the responsibility to:
a) Conduct the negotiation as prescribed by law and in a manner which is appropriate to social ethics, rights and responsibilities of citizens and business culture;
b) Truthfully present facts of the dispute, provide information and documents related to the dispute;
c) Adhere to the agreement reached after the result of the negotiation on the principle of honesty and good faith;
d) Other responsibility according to regulations of this Law and other relevant regulations of law.
Article 60. Negotiation results
1. The result of negotiation between a trader and a consumer must be documented, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties.
2. If the negotiation result is documented, the document stating the result shall contain the following information:
a) Parties to the negotiation;
b) Time and place of the negotiation;
c) Issues to be negotiated;
d) Negotiation result;
dd) Other information as agreed upon by the parties in compliance with regulations of law.
3. If the negotiation result is documented, the document must bear signatures or fingerprints of the parties to the negotiation.
Section 3. MEDIATION
Article 61. Mediation procedures
1. Traders and consumers are entitled to select a third party to carry out mediation.
2. Mediation procedures shall comply with regulations of law on mediation.
Article 62. Principles of mediation
1. Objectivity, honesty, good faith, impartiality, fairness, voluntariness and self-determination are ensured.
2. Organizations and individuals carrying out mediation and parties to mediation must keep confidentiality of information relating to the mediation, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or prescribed by law.
Article 63. Mediation organizations
1. Organizations mediating in disputes between consumers and traders consist of:
a) Social organizations participating in protection of consumers’ rights;
b) Mediation organizations under regulations of law on commercial mediation, law on grassroots mediation and law on mediation at courts;
c) Other organizations having the functions of mediating in disputes between consumers and traders under regulations of law.
2. The mediation organizations specified in points a and c clause 1 of this Article shall recognize and publish the list of eligible mediators under regulations of this Law and designate mediators to participate in mediation at the request of parties.
Article 64. Mediators
Mediators in disputes between consumers and traders are composed of:
1. Mediators under relevant regulations of law on mediation;
2. Any mediator of the organizations specified in points a and c clause 1 Article 63 of this Law must be a Vietnamese citizen who fully satisfies the following conditions:
a) He/she has full capacity for civil acts;
b) He/she has good moral qualities, be honest and reputable;
c) He/she has skills in mediation, be knowledgeable about the law on protection of consumers’ rights and other relevant laws;
d) He/she is not facing a criminal prosecution or does not have an unspent conviction.
3. If the dispute between a consumer and a trader involves any ethnic, there must be at least 01 mediator who has the same ethnic group or is proficient in the language of that ethnic. If there is not any mediator satisfying the requirement in this clause, the parties to mediation shall arrange or request the mediator to arrange an interpreter, unless otherwise provided for by law.
Article 65. Mediation results
1. When achieving the successful mediation result, involved parties shall document it.
2. The document on successful mediation in the cases specified in points and c clause 1 Article 63 of this Law shall contain the following information:
a) The organization or individual conducting mediation;
b) Parties to mediation;
c) Time and place of the mediation;
d) Issues under mediation;
dd) Opinions of parties to mediation;
e) Mediation result and solution for compliance thereof;
g) Time limit for complying with the successful mediation result;
h) Other information as agreed upon by the parties in compliance with regulations of law.
3. The document on successful mediation shall bear signatures or fingerprints of parties to mediation, signature the individual conducting mediation and seal of the organization conducting mediation (if any).
Article 66. Complying with and recognizing successful mediation results
1. Parties to mediation shall comply with the successful mediation result within the time limit agreed upon in the document on successful mediation result.
2. One of the parties to mediation is entitled to request the Court to issue a decision to recognize successful mediation result.
3. The request for recognition and the recognition of successful mediation results shall comply with regulations of law on civil procedures.
Section 4. ARBITRATION
Article 67. Effect of arbitration clauses
1. Traders must notify arbitration clauses before entering into any contract and obtain the consumer's consent.
2. If the trader specifies an arbitration clause in the standard form contract or general trading conditions, the consumer is entitled to select another method of dispute settlement when a dispute arises.
Article 68. Procedures for settling disputes by arbitration
Procedures for settling disputes by arbitration shall comply with regulations of law on commercial arbitration.
Article 69. Burden of proof
1. Every consumer shall bear the burden to provide evidence and proof to protect his/her legitimate rights and obligations as prescribed by law, except for the case of proving the trader’s faults.
2. Every trader shall bear the burden to prove that they are not at fault for damage as prescribed by law.
Section 5. SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES AT COURTS
Article 70. Civil cases of protection of consumers’ rights
1. Civil case of protection of consumers’ rights means a case in which the plaintiff is a consumer or a social organization participating in the protection of consumers' rights as prescribed in this Law. Courts shall handle civil cases of protection of consumers’ rights according to the procedures specified under the Code of Civil Procedure.
2. Any civil case of protection of consumers' rights which values less than 100 million dong shall be handled following simplified procedures without satisfying the conditions specified in clause 1 Article 317 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
3. Any civil case of protection of consumers' rights other than that specified in clause 2 of this Article shall be handled following simplified procedures when fully satisfying the conditions specified in clause 1 Article 317 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Article 71. Court fees for civil cases of protection of consumers’ rights
1. Court fees for civil cases of protection of consumers’ rights shall comply with regulations of law on Court fees and charges and this Law.
2. Any consumer who initiates a civil lawsuit over protection of consumers’ rights to protect his/her legitimate rights and interests or social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights which represents a consumer as authorized to initiates a civil lawsuit over protection of consumers’ rights is not required to pay any court fee advance.
3. Any social organization participating in protection of consumers' rights which initiates a civil lawsuit over protection of consumers’ rights in the public interests is not required to pay any court fee advance or court fee.
Article 72. Disclosure of information about civil lawsuits over protection of consumers’ rights initiated by social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights
1. Any social organization participating in protection of consumers’ rights which initiates a civil lawsuit over the protection of consumers' rights in the public interests shall publicly disclose the Court’s notification of lawsuit acceptance within 07 working days from the date of acceptance.
2. The Court’s notification of lawsuit must be publicly disclosed at the head office and on any websites or apps (if any) of the social organization participating in protection of consumers’ rights for at least 15 days from the date of disclosure.
3. Within 07 working days from the end of the lawsuit, the social organization participating in protection of consumers’ rights shall publicly disclose the result according to the method and within the time limit specified in clause 2 of this Article.
Article 73. Damages in civil lawsuits over protection of consumers’ rights in the public interests initiated by social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights
1. Damages and their beneficiaries in civil lawsuits over protection of consumers’ rights in the public interests initiated by social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights shall comply with the Court’s verdicts and decisions.
2. In case of failure to determine the beneficiaries, damages in civil lawsuits over protection of consumers’ rights in the public interests initiated by social organizations participating in protection of consumers' rights shall be used to service general activities with the aim of protecting consumers’ rights according to the Government's regulations.
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