Post by messi23 on Mar 13, 2024 3:53:35 GMT
Federal judge José Carlos do Vale Madeira, from the 5th Civil Court of Maranhão, temporarily suspended a public hearing by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) that would discuss a 21% increase in the service tariff in the state. He understood that Aneel, by not disclosing the location and time of the event, violated consumer rights and disrespected the constitutional guarantee of advertising. The “secret” meeting was scheduled for this Wednesday (14/6), in São Luís. The decision is this Tuesday (13/6) and was based on an analysis of a popular action proposed by lawyers Pedro Leonel and Thiago Brhanner.
They initially argue that the Maranhão consumer Germany Phone Number would be punished with the adjustment, which was scheduled to take effect from August this year, without even being able to debate the issue. The adjustment was requested by Companhia Energética do Maranhão, but Aneel has to organize the hearing first to allow society to participate. “The stance of the agency, whose fundamental role is to monitor and defend public and collective interests, is surprising, and in this case it punishes the consumer unjustifiably.” That's why they asked for the hearing to be suspended. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs.
In the decision, he analyzed that the public hearing must be preceded by wide publicity, with the day, time and place of the hearing being explained, and that this was not the behavior adopted by Aneel. “In cases like this, the rights of citizens and consumers cannot be undermined by strategies that mask the publicity of the public hearing, thus removing the debate on topics relevant to society. However, there are incidents that interrupt and restart the prescription count. One of them is that the debt statute of limitations ticks with each payment the debtor makes, even after the debt is statute-barred. Typically, consumers don't know this. Thus, collection companies call debtors and propose to settle the debt if they make a payment of, for example, 15% of the debt.
They initially argue that the Maranhão consumer Germany Phone Number would be punished with the adjustment, which was scheduled to take effect from August this year, without even being able to debate the issue. The adjustment was requested by Companhia Energética do Maranhão, but Aneel has to organize the hearing first to allow society to participate. “The stance of the agency, whose fundamental role is to monitor and defend public and collective interests, is surprising, and in this case it punishes the consumer unjustifiably.” That's why they asked for the hearing to be suspended. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs.
In the decision, he analyzed that the public hearing must be preceded by wide publicity, with the day, time and place of the hearing being explained, and that this was not the behavior adopted by Aneel. “In cases like this, the rights of citizens and consumers cannot be undermined by strategies that mask the publicity of the public hearing, thus removing the debate on topics relevant to society. However, there are incidents that interrupt and restart the prescription count. One of them is that the debt statute of limitations ticks with each payment the debtor makes, even after the debt is statute-barred. Typically, consumers don't know this. Thus, collection companies call debtors and propose to settle the debt if they make a payment of, for example, 15% of the debt.