Flybondi will sue the Province of Buenos Aires to reimburse it for a $300 million fine
The airline Flybondi will file a lawsuit against the Province of Buenos Aires requesting that the fine of 300 million pesos imposed by the provincial government, through the Provincial Directorate for the Defense of Consumer and User Rights, be declared null and void for alleged non-compliance with certain articles of Law 24,240 on Consumer Protection.
According to the government of Axel Kicillof, the fine was because Flybondi cancelled flights and did not offer a “response” to consumers in Buenos Aires.
In order to proceed with the legal claim, Flybondi had to pay the fine in advance, so the claim will consist of both the annulment of the penalty and the reimbursement to the company of the amount paid to the Province.
“Flybondi will file a lawsuit against the Province of Buenos Aires requesting that the fine be declared null and void due to the flaws in the resolution that imposed the sanction, and the entire procedure arbitrarily conducted by the Provincial Directorate for the Defense of Consumer and User Rights of the Province of Buenos Aires for alleged non-compliance with certain articles of Law 24,240 on Consumer Protection,” the airline said in a statement on Monday.
She pointed out that, in addition, in order to be able to initiate the lawsuit she was forced to pay the fine, "which is incompatible with the principle of innocence, since it forces the alleged offender to comply with the sanction before it has been confirmed by a final judgment."
The company added that the “unusual” amount of the fine charged by the Province is in itself a questionable factor in the judicial process. “Flybondi maintains that demanding payment of an unusual and disproportionate fine affects constitutional guarantees that ensure a defense in court.”
The sanction by the Kicillof government was issued at the end of January and the body in charge of communicating it was the Ministry of Production, Science and Technological Innovation of Buenos Aires, headed by Augusto Costa (who was Secretary of Commerce during Cristina Kirchner's second presidency).
According to the Province, Flybondi was sanctioned "after its violations of Law No. 24,240 on Consumer Protection were confirmed, based on 2,400 complaints and claims made by users in the province."
Flybondi, for its part, listed a series of arguments against the penalty on Monday. Among others, it presented the following:
- "The Provincial Directorate (for the Defense of Consumer and User Rights) is not competent to deal with issues related to aeronautical activity. Even the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and the Judicial Branch of the Province of Buenos Aires have expressed themselves in this regard in recent rulings."
- "The aeronautical authority responsible for the application and, therefore, for the supervision of the actions of airlines is the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC). It intervenes at the administrative level, and at the judicial level, the Federal Courts do so."
- "The Directorate did not make a precise and concrete charge, when it should have specifically described what the infringement committed was. On the contrary, the Directorate made a generic and abstract charge. Nor was any analysis carried out on the complaints allegedly involved."
The Province, however, assured at the end of January (when the fine was imposed) that "the company incurred and continues to incur in repeated infractions, such as the suspensions or rescheduling of its flights, the difficulty or impossibility of communicating with the airline to obtain answers and the impossibility of opting for rescheduling or for refunds of tickets or expenses generated due to cancellations (such as transportation costs to the airport, loss of hotels, excursions and tourist packages, among others)."
Clarin
