1. General
These Regulations have been formulated in accordance with the Regulations on Participation of Businesses in the System
of the All-Russian Union of Fair Business Associations - Non-Profit Partnership of Businesses "Saint Petersburg Fair
Business Bureau" and the city Program "Ethical Business of Saint Petersburg".
The consumer audit shall be carried out for evaluation of compliance of candidate members' activities with the Laws "On Protection of Consumer Rights", "On Advertising", trade and service regulations, other federal and municipal enactments governing relations with consumers and business partners.
The consumer audit shall be the first and most important examination of a candidate member.
The primary objective of the consumer audit shall be to establish the possibility of the business's participation in the Fair Business System.
1.1. Subject to consumer audit shall be all categories of enterprises, organizations and businesses in accordance with their respective category.
1.2. The consumer audit shall be carried out by the commission of the Consumer Association Expert Council or by other non-profit organization. The makeup of the commission shall be determined by the chairperson of the Expert Council and approved at the meeting of the presidium of the organization's Expert Council.
1.3. The consumer audit shall include the following elements:
- examination of the business's administrative, legal and professional activities;
- examination of compliance of the business activities with the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights";
- examination of compliance of the business's advertising activities with the Law "On Advertising";
- review of consumer/customer relations policy.
2. Summary of Consumer Audit Elements
2.1. Examination of the business's administrative, legal and professional activities
Examination of the business's administrative, legal and professional activities shall be based on the willingness of the candidate member to make available to appropriate experts the information necessary for evaluation of the professional standards of his business; the purpose of the examination shall be to establish the availability of the legal instruments required under existing legislation:
- statutory documents;
- documents proving registration with tax authorities;
- documents proving the title to production, commercial and administrative premises;
- availability of licenses by the type of activities and certificates;
- existence of records and document flow management;
- analysis of the candidate's own business and existence of a system of corrective actions to improve the quality of the business based on the results of such analysis;
- availability of strategic and current activity plans.
2.2. Examination of compliance of the business activities with the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights ".
This examination shall involve:
- consumer information obligations;
- availability of information accompanying the goods;
- existence of a system of warranty liabilities and post-warranty service;
- checking the system of consumer rights implementation.
2.2.1 Consumer/Customer information obligations
The above shall be checked on the basis of information available at the point of sale, point of service or product shipping point.
Established In the course of examination shall be whether the trading company has the necessary and true information about the business and the offered goods available in a demonstrative and accessible format.
Such information shall include:
- information on the work schedule of the business and its departments located on other premises;
- information about the goods as specified by the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights " (title, manufacturer, price, mandatory requirements according to standards, description of method of application if necessary, etc.);
- trade regulations;
- information on priority service of certain categories of citizens;
- registered address of the business, telephone numbers of superior and supervisory bodies;
- list of goods of proper quality which may not be exchanged for similar goods (according to the list approved by the Government of the Russian Federation);
- list of durable goods to which the consumers' demand for immediate and gratuitous provision of similar goods for the period of repair is not applicable;
- availability of the complaints and suggestions book in a place accessible for the consumer;
- telephone numbers and addresses of controlling bodies protecting the consumer rights.
The buyer shall have an opportunity to check the consignment note and certificate of compliance.
The trading company shall provide correctly drawn up price tags for the goods offered for sale.
2.2.2. Information accompanying the goods
The manufacturer shall bring to the notice of the consumer/customer the name of his enterprise and its location.
Information about goods and services in the Russian language shall contain:
- titles of standards with whose mandatory requirements the goods must comply;
- list of main application characteristics of the goods;
- price and conditions of purchase of the goods;
- manufacturer's warranty obligations;
- rules and conditions for effective and safe use of the goods;
- service life/expiry date of the goods and information about the consumer's actions to be taken upon its expiration as well as about possible consequences in case of a failure to take such actions;
- addresses of the manufacturer and enterprises authorized by the manufacturer to receive complaints from the consumer and those performing repairs and maintenance;
- for the goods which are subject to mandatory certification, information on their certification shall be made available to the consumer;
- for the goods which under certain conditions may be dangerous for the consumer's life or health, the manufacturer shall bring to the consumer's notice information on the aspects of their impact and the possible consequences;
- the goods whose application characteristics may deteriorate with time shall be marked with the service life date.
2.3. Examination of compliance of the business's advertising activities with the Law "On Advertising"
The basis of this consumer audit element shall be establishment of the fact of the company's fair advertising of its goods.
The advertising shall represent the true characteristics of the goods/services and shall not mislead consumers.
The company's advertising shall be in full compliance with the Law "On Advertising".
2.3.1. Lowest price declaration
The advertiser shall have valid grounds for such declaration by providing comparative information. There shall be no unsubstantiated lowest price declarations.
2.3.2. The price of goods and services publicized in the company's advertising shall be the same as their price at the time of purchase or provision of a service.
2.4. Review of consumer/customer relations policy.
In the course of the review, the following shall be determined:
- whether the company has a consumer/customer relations policy;
- whether there is a consumer/customer complaint handling system;
- documentary proof of actual complaint handling work (complaint settlement manuals);
- existence of a system of recording, analysis and storage of information on satisfying the consumer/customer complaints;
- whether previous complaints are analyzed in order to identify patterns, trends and causes;
- existence of a system for out-of-court resolution of disputes with the consumer/customer.
The results of the audit shall be formalized in the form of the Expert Council opinion and recommendations, following a discussion at the meeting of the presidium of the Council of a the non-profit (public) organization of consumers or businesses and taking a decision on the advisability of the applicant admission to the Fair Business Association.
Information on the successful completion of auditing the candidate member of the Association shall be published in mass media.
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