The story of a complaint from an online store to Inmad

Online stores have made shopping easy. They allow you to shop in less time and to have access to goods in different parts of the country. But if the buyer has a complaint, where should he go and what will be the result of this complaint?

Inmad has a system to complain about the business on its page. One of Zomit’s readers shared his experience in this field, the path that still hasn’t brought him anywhere after a month of follow-up. But is such a complaint effective?

Nima bought a Note 11 mobile phone from one of the online stores and it was supposed to arrive in one month. After a month, the business owner called and announced that they would be delayed for ten days. For this reason, Nima canceled her order and the store announced that it would return the money to her after two or three days, but the return of the money was delayed many times. “It was the weekend, they said they would return it on Saturday, it was Saturday 72 hours later, then a week later, and after that they didn’t answer either on chat or on the contact number,” he told Zoomit. After two weeks of follow-up, they said it would take a month.”

In this way, the consumer filed a complaint with Inmad, but the business announced that it would return the money with interest, and Inmad declared the case closed: “As the time for the return of the money was approaching, I asked them in the message that the date is close to a month, they said It will take another 60 working days and we will pay it on the first of September.”

Inmad has announced to Nima that if he wants to get arbitration, he must pay 20% of the transaction amount as an arbitration fee: “20% of the amount for me is one million and 700 thousand tomans. If it goes to the last stages and I am right, maybe they will return the money to me.” Otherwise, he should refer to the judicial authorities.

Mohammad Jaafar Nanakar, a legal expert and university professor, says that according to the statute, dispute resolution is not in the essence of this article, but it is the responsibility of organizing business operations and identifying businesses. Although the e-commerce development center’s statutes and legal cases in which this article is defined are ambiguous: “Dispute resolution is either by judicial authority or by arbitration.” If the parties, i.e. the business owner or the person who suffered, wants the center to arbitrate for him, he must sign an arbitration agreement between them. It means to agree that the decision of this center is valid. In this case, it will be subject to the arbitration regulations.”

Every year, the judiciary announces the arbitration regulations, which also specify the percentage of arbitration. According to the latest regulations, the text of which has been published in the Majlis Research Center, in Article 1, it is stated that “the amount of the arbitration fee and the manner of its payment is based on the agreement of the arbitrator or the arbitration institution with the parties.” Otherwise, it will be equal to the provisions of this regulation for all referees, including professional referees and others.

In this regulation, the arbitration fee is two percent up to one billion tomans. However, in the manual of the online collective dispute resolution system, which this article is based on, the fee is calculated in a different way. This code of practice has been developed to resolve disputes arising from various types of business transactions with consumers or regarding these transactions by the arbitration board appointed by the Arbitration Commission of the Supreme Confederation of Iranian Employers’ Associations.

In this policy, non-return of money in case of cancellation or impossibility of supply is recorded as one of the cases of dispute. The procedure is defined in such a way that when requesting arbitration, in addition to previously registering the dispute information, the consumer provides his reasons and documents within 24 hours of paying the arbitration fee. The business will file its defense within 72 hours. The arbitration members review the case within 72 hours of referral and defenses are presented. Within 72 hours, the consumer or business will correct the deficiencies and provide additional defenses. The jury will announce their independent opinion within 72 hours, then 72 hours later, the decision will be issued after holding a consultation meeting and communicated to the consumer and business through the system.

After these steps, if the vote is in favor of the consumer and the business does not implement it, the status of the dispute will be changed to unresolved and a corresponding regulatory notice will be entered for the business in the Inmad system. If the business does not implement the decision within 20 days from the delivery of the decision, the consumer can file a request for enforcement of the arbitration decision through the electronic service system of the judiciary, so that the decision will be implemented by the order of the judicial authority.

But the fee that is considered for this arbitration in the policy is for the case of non-return of money in case of cancellation or inability to provide 20% of the transaction amount.

According to Nanakar, in principle, the Electronic Commerce Development Center and the Inmad organization cannot enter into arbitration unless the parties accept the issue: “The reason is that it may not have a guarantee of execution, which means that even if it gives a decision, it cannot be appealed in a court or a judicial authority. It can be cited or refuted. Unless the parties clearly declare that the center is the arbitration authority and the arbitration authority accepts the position in this matter. This place itself is a challenge. In the same example, you also explained that it is possible for this person to vote and the business will not comply and say that you do not have a guarantee of implementation.

According to him, the best way to file a complaint in such cases is to refer to the official arbitration authorities such as the Chamber of Commerce or the Organization of the Computer Trade Union System of the country, which are identified as the authority for the protection of authors’ rights according to the Law on the Protection of Creators’ Rights: slow They can refer to these authorities if the vote is valid and can be collected.”

However, it is possible to register violations and complaints on the Inmad website, but according to this lawyer, this complaint is a trade union complaint: “You can file a complaint there that according to consumer rights, the product was not returned, sent late, or did not comply with the arrangements to receive the product, therefore, Inmad cancel or suspend But when it is a judicial issue, it means that a person has been given sex and not paid for it, it must be checked in an official authority.” A complaint in this article has no other result than the suspension of this article and the payment gateway, and it does not mean that this article is an arbitration authority or can do judicial work.

Under these conditions, it seems that the best way is for the victim to refer to the court or the dispute resolution council. Also, the official arbitration authorities such as the Iranian Arbitration Chamber or the Consumer Protection Organization are also the authorities to deal with these violations. Naanakar says: “I don’t think this product can do much.”

If the parties accept and sign this style sheet, although it can be argued, it is not clear how the decision of this arbitration authority becomes effective. Especially since Nanakar says that the association that compiles this code of practice is not a recognized authority as an arbitration authority.