Home ART for the protection of passenger and user rightsSecond-instance complaints

Second-instance complaints

A second-instance complaint may be lodged with the Authority in the event of infringement of passenger rights in rail, bus and coach, sea and inland waterway transport, as enshrined in European Regulations, for the purpose of the exercise of the Authority’s sanctioning powers with respect to carriers, station managers, terminal managing bodies or port terminal operators.

WHEN TO SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO THE AUTHORITY

Passengers may file a complaint to the Authority — directly or through a delegate, including representative associations — only after submission of a complaint to the transport undertaking, using the correct channels (usually specified on the website of the transport undertaking and/or in the general transport conditions):

when they consider that the response received from the transport undertaking is not satisfactory;
or when the following DEADLINES have expired and no response has been received from the transport undertaking:

TIME LIMITS

for rail transport: 30 days from the date of submission of the complaint to the transport undertaking;
for bus and coach transport: 90 days from the date of submission of the complaint to the transport undertaking;
for sea and inland waterway transport: 60 days after the date of submission of the complaint to the transport undertaking.

HOW TO SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO THE AUTHORITY

A complaint may be submitted to the Authority through one of the following:

MODALITIES

via the web through the online complaint submission system (sistema di acquisizione telematica dei reclami, SiTe) accessible from the Authority’s website, with a wizard to upload the necessary documents, after registration and release of the login information;
by sending the appropriate forms, duly completed, together with the mandatory documentation, by certified e-mail (CEM) to pec@pec.autorita-transporti.it, in .pdf format only;
by sending the appropriate forms, duly completed, together with the mandatory documentation, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, to Autorità di Regolazione dei Trasporti, Ufficio Diritti degli Utenti – Via Nizza 230 – 10126 Torino.

GROUNDS FOR SUBMITTING A SECOND-INSTANCE COMPLAINT TO THE AUTHORITY

Please see the list of list of grounds for submitting a second-instance complaint to the Authority. If you do not find your item of interest, please visit the ‘Frequently asked questions – FAQ’ (in Italian language).

Please note: that the evaluation of second-instance complaints is neither aimed at satisfying the economic demands of passengers (refunds, restitution, compensation), nor at providing legal assistance or consulting services. In order to settle a dispute and enforce their claims directly, including economic claims, passengers may rely on the out-of-court settlement of disputes (Alternative Dispute Resolution – ADR), as well as on the ordinary legal proceedings before the competent judicial authority.

WHAT DOES ART DO UPON RECEIPT OF A COMPLAINT

Complaints filed to the Authority, submitted with the correct procedures, enable the verifications to identify the infringements of passenger rights, if any, and the imposition of administrative sanctions, pursuant to Legislative Decrees Nos 70/2014, 169/2014 and 129/2015 , on undertakings which are considered as non-compliant as a result of the inquiries.

The Authority may also act of its own motion and has the power to obtain information and documents from carriers, infrastructure managers or any other party concerned, as well as carry out verifications and inspections.

At the end of the verifications falling under its remit, the Authority informs the passenger, for the purposes of transparency, about the dismissal of the complaint (with a brief statement of reasons) or the initiation of a sanctioning proceeding.

All the measures whereby the Authority has initiated and concluded sanctioning proceedings are available in the Decisions section of the website.

The Authority assesses complaints and reports received from users also with a view to contributing to monitoring the quality of the services and preventing future disruptions, as well as for the exercise of its regulatory functions.

In particular, in relation to the different types of services and infrastructure, the Authority defines, inter alia, the minimum rights and entitlements, including compensation, that may be claimed by users from transport infrastructure managers and service providers, without prejudice to any further guarantees enhancing users’ protection that may be included in the service charters by infrastructure managers and service operators.

For further information on the functions and powers of the Authority, please visit the What we do section of the website.

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