Arbitration rules amended to allow conciliation meeting via videoconference

The regulations of the Arbitration Centre for Consumer Conflicts of Macau were amended through a dispatch from the Secretary for Economy and Finance and the details of the amendment were published last week in the government’s Official Gazette (BO).

The changes were made with the aim of making arbitration processes more convenient for tourists by allowing conciliation meetings to be held through videoconferencing.

The Consumer Council (CC) have stated that the measure is meant to allow cross-border mediation and hearing, boosting tourists’ confidence.

In a statement, the CC remarks enumerated the aims of revising such regulations; to safeguard each tourists’ claimant rights even after they have returned to their homelands, to improve the efficiency of the Consumer Arbitration Centre and to enhance consumers’ confidence to shop in Macau.
In the same statement, the Council also stated that it has “proposed to consumer organizations in the Greater Bay Area to establish a mechanism for cross-border arbitration.”

Until now, due to the constraints related with transportation, distance and time, many consumers have abandoned their complaints, as an on-site hearing was required to follow up on the process.

With the changes now enforced, the CC claims that “in the future, this brings convenience to tourists who lodge their complaints in Macau and ensures they are still protected [and promised] to get a fair and reasonable judgment once they return to their places of origin.”

According to data from the CC, in 2017 the Council received 574 complaint cases from tourists. From this total only six were referred to the Consumer Arbitration Centre for processing.
The Council hopes that the revision will facilitate the resolution of a higher percentage of the complaints as more and more tourists learn that they can be fully protected, even in retroactive cases that are being resolved after they have left the MSAR.