§ 3-54. Complaints board for disputes between customer and service provider

This section provides a basis for disputes between customers and service providers to be resolved outside the courts. The Government can approve a complaints board when the board has been established by agreement between service providers or their organisations on the one side and organisations representing the customers on the other. Approval is therefore an option, not an obligation, and the board is based on an agreement between the parties in the market.

The Government can also issue regulations on the complaints board's activities. The regulations can determine who can bring cases, and which conditions must be met for a case to be considered. They can govern what effect the handling has between the parties, including the relationship to the courts, and what enforceability and legal force the decisions have. They can set out how this dispute resolution relates to other legislation on dispute handling. Finally, they can lay down a duty for the service provider to inform customers.

The section works as the last step in the complaints chain. The duty to provide information about dispute resolution and complaints boards is regulated in § 3-26, which is listed as a section that refers here. The same applies to § 3-8 on termination of agreements and § 4-40 on the duty to provide information on account switching (kontobytte).

An example using the law's roles: a customer and a service provider disagree, and the service provider has rejected the complaint. If there is an approved complaints board, the customer can have the case handled there, in line with any rules laid down in regulations. Which cases can be brought and what effect the decision has depend on the regulations.