Which court should I go to for consumer protection?

Jurisdiction at the choice of the consumer

As a general rule, a statement of claim is filed at the location of the defendant, but the consumer is given the opportunity to choose the most convenient place for him to file a claim for the protection of consumer rights (Part 7, Article 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation):

• At the location of the defendant. In this case, the location of an organization or individual entrepreneur should be understood as its legal address (i.e. not the address of an office or store, but the address specified during registration) - Art. 54 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
• At the place of conclusion or execution of the contract. This could be the address of the store where the product was purchased or the salon where the service was provided.
• At the plaintiff's place of residence. Usually this refers to the plaintiff’s registered address, but if he actually permanently resides in another place, he can file a claim at the place of his actual residence.

Important! Executing companies often include in the service agreement a condition on jurisdiction of a specific court (the so-called contractual jurisdiction), which may be inconvenient for the consumer to contact. This condition of the contract does not deprive the consumer of the right to choose the place where the dispute will be resolved; however, the claim will have to include a requirement to recognize the contract in terms of establishing jurisdiction as invalid.

However, there is one exception to this rule: if a class action is filed, you can only go to court at the location of the defendant (Part 4, Article 30 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

Based on one of the above addresses, you can find a suitable court:

• The court district of the magistrate can be found in the State Automated System “Justice” database;
• There is usually one district court per administrative-territorial unit: city district, regional district, etc. In some regions you can find interdistrict courts.

To determine whether to go to a district or magistrate court, you need to focus on the cost of the claim and the stated requirements.

Jurisdiction of the magistrate and district court

A claim for the protection of consumer rights is filed with the district court if (Article 23-24 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation):

• the cost of the claim exceeds 100,000 rubles;
• The claim claims compensation for moral damage in accordance with Art. 15 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights without Property Claims;
• the claim asserts material claims that are not subject to assessment;
• The claim asserts non-material claims.

In other cases, the consumer must contact the magistrate.

How to determine the value of a claim

To determine the price of a consumer protection claim, you need to understand what will be included. The legislation does not regulate this issue, however, in judicial practice the cost of a claim includes:

• the cost of purchased goods, works or services;
• the amount of the penalty payable in connection with the untimely fulfillment by the seller or executor of his obligations (Art. , Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights);
• the amount of losses subject to compensation.

The claim price does not include:

• compensation for moral damage;
• the amount of the consumer fine (Article 13 of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights);
• amount of state duty;
• legal expenses.

How to draw up a statement of claim for the protection of consumer rights in court? Step by step order

Phone warranty under consumer protection law

Is compensation for moral damage expected?

Compensation to the victim for moral damage caused is provided for in Article No. 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The main condition for payment of compensation here is the fact that the client suffered moral suffering due to the fault of the seller, service provider or manufacturer.

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The amount of compensation payments is set by the judge, based on the degree of guilt of the defendant and the amount of moral damage caused.

How to draw up and submit a claim

The statement of claim is drawn up in free form, taking into account the requirements of the law set out in Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Thus, the statement of claim for the protection of consumer rights must contain the following information:

• name of the court chosen for the appeal;
• Full name and residential address of the plaintiff;
• information about the defendant. For individual entrepreneurs this is full name and OGRNIP, for an organization - name, address, INN, OGRN. This information can be found in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, respectively;
• the cost of the claim, if the application contains property claims subject to assessment;
• what exactly is the violation of consumer rights with references to the relevant provisions of the law;
• the circumstances on which the plaintiff bases his claims, as well as documents proving these circumstances, including the claim and the response to it;
• list of attached documents, date and signature.

It is also better to indicate in the title of the document that this is a claim for the protection of consumer rights, so that the court does not have any procedural issues.

Required documents

All documents confirming the consumer’s claims must be attached to the claim. Depending on the specific dispute, these could be:

• complaint to the seller;
• response to a complaint;
• receipt of payment of state duty;
• notification of delivery of a copy of the statement of claim to the defendant;
• purchase and sale agreement, service agreement, sales receipt or other document confirming the fact of purchase;
• act of completed work, reconciliation or disagreement;
• warranty card;
• commodity examination;
• documents confirming expenses for legal services;
• power of attorney from the plaintiff’s representative if he files a claim and participates in court hearings;
• photos and videos proving the circumstances referred to by the plaintiff;
• other documents.

All documents, except for the notification of delivery and receipt of payment of the state duty, can be attached in the form of copies, and the originals can be presented at the court hearing.

You can read more about drawing up and filing a claim in our other article.

How to determine the amount of state duty

The state duty in cases of consumer rights protection is calculated only for property claims, depending on the value of the claim. The calculation procedure is enshrined in Art. 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. However, this procedure should be used taking into account the provisions of Art. 333.36 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the consumer is exempt from paying state duty if the price of the claim does not exceed 1,000,000 rubles. Thus, the state duty for consumer protection is calculated as follows:

• if the claim price is up to 1,000,000 rubles inclusive, the state duty is 0 rubles;
• if the claim price is over 1,000,000 rubles, the state duty is calculated as 0.5% of the claim price minus 1,000,000 rubles.

Also according to Art. 333.35 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, regardless of the price of the claim, the state duty will not be paid:

• Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory;
• veterans of the Great Patriotic War, disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, former prisoners of fascist concentration camps, ghettos and other places of forced detention;
• authorities and public associations filing claims in the interests of consumers.

For information on the procedure for paying state duty and other nuances of its calculation, please follow the link.

Procedure for filing a claim in court

Once the statement of claim has been formed and the place where the claim will be filed is known, you can go to court. This can be done in several ways:

• submit documents to the court reception in person or through a representative. In addition to the package of documents itself, you will need a passport, and for a representative - a notarized power of attorney;
• send the claim with attachments to the court by mail. It is better to send the shipment by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt so that it does not get lost;
• send scans of documents deleted through the electronic system of the State Automated System “Justice”.

When an application may not be accepted in court

The law establishes a list of cases when a statement of claim may not be accepted or returned. So, according to Art. 134 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court refuses to accept the statement of claim (without the right to re-submit it) if:

• the claim must be sent to another court;
• the dispute already has a court decision that has entered into legal force;
• There is an arbitration court decision on the dispute.

Also, in accordance with Art. 135 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the statement of claim is returned to the consumer to eliminate shortcomings in the following cases:

• the procedure for pre-trial dispute resolution (claim procedure) was not followed;
• the case is beyond the jurisdiction of this court, i.e. the plaintiff incorrectly established jurisdiction;
• the plaintiff is incompetent, so the claim must be filed by his legal representative;
• the statement of claim is not signed;
• the claim is not accompanied by documents confirming the right to represent the plaintiff if the claim is filed by a representative;
• The court is already considering a case regarding this dispute.

Pre-trial dispute resolution procedure

Let us dwell in more detail on the question of whether it is necessary to comply with the claim procedure before filing a claim in court for the protection of consumer rights.

The law does not establish the consumer’s obligation to contact the seller or contractor with a claim, i.e. the court is obliged to accept a claim for the protection of consumer rights, even if the pre-trial procedure was not followed.

However, in practice, courts periodically return statements of claim to plaintiffs that do not include copies of the claim. The ruling to return the claim in this case is subject to appeal to a higher court.

Important! Regarding some types of services, the provision of which is regulated by special legislation, a mandatory pre-trial procedure is still established. So, you will have to file a claim for financial, insurance, transport and travel services.

It should be noted that compliance with the claim procedure is in the interests of the consumer himself:

• makes it possible to resolve a dispute without bringing it to court;
• documents the fact of timely contacting the seller with legal requirements;
• allows you to demand payment of penalties and consumer fines in court.

Tips and tricks

To win over the store and get a positive decision, it makes sense to thoroughly prepare for the process. There are several tips that will help you win.

1. Study practice on a specific case. The circumstances of the conflict are always individual, but the general patterns of proceedings are present everywhere. It is advisable for the buyer to pay attention to examples from judicial practice in which similar situations were resolved.
2. Focus on the opinion of the RF Armed Forces. If any local decision does not coincide with the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, then it is worth adhering to the point of view of the highest authority.
3. Follow the claim procedure. Although the pre-trial algorithm of actions is not established as an obligation directly by law, its necessity is established in practice. Courts simply return claims if buyers did not contact the companies directly.

The main advice is to study similar situations. Legal literacy and an attentive approach to business can tip the scales even in the most stalemate conditions. The buyer needs to remember that the court will initially be inclined to protect the weaker side of the conflict.

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Procedure and terms of consideration of the case in court

The statute of limitations during which you can go to court for consumer protection depends on the type of dispute. Thus, in the event of a dispute about a product, a claim must be filed in court within 3 years from the date of violation of the consumer’s right, a dispute about services must be considered by the court within 1 year. Protection of non-property rights is carried out indefinitely.

Once a claim is filed in court, the following procedural deadlines apply:

• the court accepts the claim for consideration within 5 working days;
• within a month from the moment the application is accepted for consideration, a court hearing must be scheduled;
• The total period for consideration of the dispute should not exceed 1 month in the magistrate court and 2 months in the district court. However, these deadlines may be extended due to the need to carry out additional procedural actions.

Arbitrage practice

Although the legislation on the protection of consumer rights at first glance seems quite simple, in the practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation there are periodically interesting decisions that demonstrate a non-standard legal approach:

1. The consumer managed to terminate the sales contract and recover the cost of the product, which broke after the expiration of the warranty period, but whose service life had not yet expired, since it turned out to be impossible to repair it (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 6, 2018 No. 46 -KG18-54).
2. Together with the cost of the low-quality product, the consumer recovered from the seller the interest paid on the loan taken for the purchase of this product (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated January 28, 2020 No. 9-КГ19-15).
3. The seller did not comply with the court decision in a dispute regarding the protection of consumer rights. The consumer re-filed the claim in court and recovered a penalty, compensation for moral damage and a fine for the period from the moment the first court decision was made until the re-application to the court (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 25, 2019 No. 77-KG19- 9).
4. The consumer transferred the right to demand a fine from the seller for refusing to voluntarily satisfy the consumer’s legal demands to another consumer (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 28, 2019 No. 5-КГ19-52).

Pre-trial dispute resolution procedure

First of all, it is necessary to go through the pre-trial procedure for resolving a conflict with the seller or manufacturer.

This condition is not mandatory , but it would be very advisable.

The rationale is that if the seller refuses to satisfy your demands in the claim procedure, they can be charged a penalty for refusing to satisfy a legitimate claim.

The fine will be 50% of the amount awarded by the court. Moreover, there is no need to file a demand for a fine.