Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
04/04/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
More spacious seating, food and even emission rate of ticket purchased by phone are among them
Some rates hurt the Code of Consumer Protection, says Idec
Faced with successive losses and pressured by high costs, Brazilian airlines are taking advantage of loopholes in the regulation of the industry to charge for services that were free in the past. These are called ancillary revenue, which complement the gains from the sale of tickets. The strategy, however, comes up against the rights of consumers. In assessing Idec, some of these charges hurt the Code of Consumer Rights and to the Civil Code, and may be challenged in court.
In the list of ancillary revenue is a charge for booking of seats more spacious, located in the front rows of the aircraft or beside the emergency exit of the aircraft. TAM, Gol and Azul charge between R$ 30 and R$ 40 for domestic flights in comfort. On international flights, the value reached R$ 229 in TAM, depending on the cities of origin and destination. Just Avianca does not charge for reserved seats.
Research IdeaWorksCompany international consultancy estimates that airline ancillary revenue has reached around the world, US$ 36.1 billion in 2012. The figure is 11.3% higher than that recorded in 2011 (US$ 32.5 billion). Although North America (US$ 15.6 billion) and Europe (US$ 10 billion) concentrate the largest shares of the market, the pace of growth of ancillary revenue is higher in Latin America and the Caribbean. The consultancy estimated high of 30% in this region - from US$ 835 million in 2011 to US$ 1.1 billion in 2012. In North America, the expansion of this source of revenue is estimated at 4.6% in 2012.
Gol also charges from last year's $ 28 passenger who wants to travel without a neighbor next door in flight in the airlift. This is possible because the seats that remain between the window and the aisle is blocked in some rows. This year, the opportunity will be extended to all flights departing from Santos Dumont. The service is limited to the Rio airport because on infrastructure issues, the airline's aircraft, which have 180 seats, just take off with 150 passengers. Therefore, it would be empty seats blocked anyway.
Another innovation created by companies is the emission rate, charged on purchases tickets by phone, in stores or at the airport counter. The value ranges from R$ 30 to R$ 40 for tickets to R$ 300 (in the case of Blue) or R$ 400 (other airlines). When the rate exceeds these values, the rate is 10% of the ticket on domestic flights. Customers effecting the purchase over the Internet are exempt from the fee.
If the passenger has to reschedule the passage for some reason, there comes another collection. Any change resulting in fees that range from $ 80 to $ 150, depending on the company and the profile of the chosen fare. If rebooking is made within 24 hours after ticket purchase, the customer is usually spared the fee.
There are still charging for in-flight service, a practice adopted by Gol partly national flights lasting more than an hour and 15 minutes. In June, the service will be extended to all flights. The latte or soda sells for R$ 5. And the sandwiches cost R$ 13. Whoever is not willing to pay these amounts only entitled to water.
Gol had a loss in 2012 of R$ 1.5 billion. Avianca and Blue because they do not disclose balances held. Already the numbers of TAM were incorporated to balance the Latam since the company completed its merger with LAN Chile last year.
For the lawyer Idec Flavio Siqueira Junior, some of these charges contradict the Code of Consumer Protection (CDC). For more spacious seats, the collection goes against Article 39, clause 10 of the code. In this, it is said that one can not increase without good cause the price of services and products. As the seats more comfortable already existed in the plant of the aircraft and nothing was charged for a reservation a few years ago, companies could not enter recovery in evaluating Siqueira.
In case of rebooking flights, Siqueira says that the deadline for withdrawal or amendment without charge should be seven days and not 24 hours since the purchase was made off-premises (made online or by phone, for example ), pursuant to article 49 of the CRC. The lawyer also said that rescheduling or cancellation fees may not exceed 5% of the value of the ticket, in accordance with Article 740 of the Civil Code, although an ordinance Anac speak oldest at 10%. Still, in his assessment, there should be no charge may change for the trip.
- The amendment is nothing more than a change in the conditions of the contract unilaterally without character, as is planned in the contract terms. There is no justification for charging fee in this case, even when the change is requested before the scheduled time, because companies now estimate that number of passengers boarding and will not sell more tickets than the aircraft behaves - says Siqueira.
He remembers that, in Brazil, the recent growth in demand, with the incorporation of passengers who had the habit of flying, has created an environment conducive to this kind of collection, because many of these people are unaware of how it was provision of these services in the past.
In assessing aviation consultant Jose Wilson Massa, the JWMassa, charges occur because "the sector legislation is silent."
- Businesses rely loopholes to charge for services that were once free. How to move the system to reserve a seat or reschedule a ticket, was a service - says Massa.
In fact, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) does not establish rules for all these services. There is nothing in the legislation of the sector on the recovery of additional value for seat reservation, for example. In case of refunds for cancellation, ordinance 676/2000 ANAC states that the company can charge 10% of the canceled ticket, refunding passengers with 90% of the total.
In practice, companies retain 10% of the passage only when it matches the value of the full rate. As the ordinance says that 676 "refund of ticket purchased through promotional rate will apply to any restrictions contained in the terms of its application", companies classify all other profiles promotional rates - even if they are not punctual promotions - and get up to 50% of the canceled ticket.
For other rates, such as rebooking rate and emission rate, ANAC does not regulate values but believes that recovery is permitted, provided they have been defined in the contract of carriage between the airline and the passenger. For the agency, the collection of these services is just a breakdown of the components of the final price of the ticket and that previously were not explicit.
ANAC also says that these charges are the flip side of the reduction in average prices since the passages which became effective model of pricing freedom. Since 2002, the average price of tickets fell 45.8%, with increased competition and offering differentiated tariff profiles, which allowed the popularity of air travel.
Companies also emphasize that Brazil adopts the system of free pricing since 2002 and that the charge for these services is a worldwide movement. Around here, he gained strength for about three years and, even with the criticism by consumer protection agencies, will only grow.
Source: The Globe - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.