The Competition and Market Authority (Antitrust) fined for over 18 million euros in total car rental company Avis Budget Italia, Hertz Italiana, Centauro Rent a Car Italy, Green Motion Italia, Noleggiare and Drivalia Leasys Rent for unfair terms.
The Guarantor, in particular, contested the clause present in the contracts of the car rental companies, published on their websites, which required the lessee to pay a lump sum, "an unjustified fee to the customer", to manage road fines or non-payment of parking or tolls during car rental.
"L 'additional amount, explains the Antitrust "provided for by the clause - regardless of the qualification adopted by each company (such as "penalty" or "fee for service") - it is not justified in light of the obligations due in the event of a fine attributable to the contractor. In fact, car rental companies only have to transfer the customers' identification data to the body investigating the infringement."
Antitrust: eliminate these clauses from the forms
According to the Guarantor, the unjustified nature of the fee also emerges "regardless of the specific amount applied by the company and due to the automatic nature of the charge on the consumer's credit card, based on the pre-authorization provided at the time of signing the rental contract".
The six fined companies have the obligation to publish an extract of the decision on its website. Furthermore, with the entry into force of the new sanctioning powers regarding unfair clauses from 1 February 2022, each company was sentenced to eliminate the contested clause from their contractual documentation, in addition to the payment of an administrative fine.
What consumer associations say
“Good, even if the topic is not entirely new given that the Antitrust had already been interested in the surcharges imposed by car rental companies when they have to pay a fine to be charged to a customer. Enough with practices that impose improper burdens. The customer must pay for the car rental and nothing else. Various taxes cannot be added to round up the bill” he commented Maximilian Dona, president ofNational Consumers Union.
Also satisfied Codacons: “We have been denouncing for some time how in the car rental sector there are too many unfair clauses to the detriment of users and absurd taxes imposed on customers. The Antitrust decision accepts complaints submitted by consumers who on more than one occasion have reported opaque or unjustified charges that improperly increased rental costs. Clauses that dramatically increase the profits of companies to the detriment of consumers, and in this sense the authority has done well to sanction incorrect behavior by raising a hefty fine, which we hope will act as a deterrent".
