Consumer Associations

Consumerism is the area of law which protects and safeguards the interests of consumers, defined as users of material goods and services for personal use. In Italy, the first Consumer Association was founded in 1955. However, Consumer Protection has only really been developed in over the last two decades, with the introduction of specific national legislation in line with EU indications. In 1998, at what was then known as the Ministry for Productive Activities, the National Council of Consumers and Users (CNCU) was founded, and it still acts today to unite Italy’s most important Consumer Associations under the auger of what has now become the Ministry of Economic Development. The last important feature of national consumer legislation to be introduced was the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree no.206/2005) which consolidates, coordinates and simplifies the existing regulations protecting the rights of consumers and users. Today, Italy has 20 Consumer Associations which are members of the CNCU, in addition to numerous other associations that work on a local or national level but which have not received Government recognition. Wind Tre, in line with its key value of transparency for the customers of the brand “Wind” and “3” and in order to establish and consolidate stable and ongoing relations with the world of Italian consumers, has a special department responsible for Consumer Association relations (the Consumer Associations department). The dialogue between this department and Consumer Associations takes place on an operative level and an institutional level, both nationally and locally:

• on an operative level, the confrontations takes place through the management of complaints and joint settlements of issues presented by users through a Consumer Association;
• institutional discussions on a national level cover issues or projects of shared interest and often involve joint working groups put together by ministries or antitrust authorities;
• local relations consist in meetings with local Consumer Association bodies which relate to customers on a daily basis and are designed to promote Wind Tre’s efforts to improve its services and ensure customer satisfaction.

On the basis of the Protocol and Conciliation Rules signed between the customers association and Wind Tre, the Consumers Association can submit a request of conciliation representing the customer. The consumer can alternatively proceed independently