Initially, according to the first agreement signed on 6 March 1990, mediation was only available for disputes pertaining to breaches of regulations resulting in a fine, and complaints could only be filed by consumer associations.
The agreement of 20 February 2006, signed by all consumer associations, allowed customers to file complaints directly with the Mediator, whose powers were expanded, notably to include transport agreements. With these two modifications, the number of complaints filed with the Mediator tripled in 2006. The vast majority of cases handled by the Mediator are now filed directly by customers.
The agreement was upgraded in January 2014 to enhance the Mediator’s powers to include certain RATP EPIC subsidiaries transporting passengers in the Île-de-France region.
The publication of regulation no. 2015-1033 of 20 August 2015 and its implementing decrees clearly spells out the requirements for out-of-court settlements of consumer disputes. These texts, which transpose European Directive No. 2013/11/EU of 21 May 2013 into French law, strengthen the Mediator’s role, making it a key player in the amiable settlement of consumer disputes. The service is accessible free of charge to all consumers who file a complaint pertaining to a sale or service contract with a company.
Under this new legal and regulatory framework, the company must guarantee that consumers have effective access to a mediation service.
A company is allowed to provide its own mediation service.
Consequently, RATP decided to maintain its own company Mediator while guaranteeing an independent and impartial service.
Accordingly, the Mediator wrote a Charter to elucidate their level of commitment and the terms of interventions. The charter was presented to the consumer associations serving as members of the collegiate body that designates the Mediator.
To take into account cross-border disputes in cases where non-residents have a complaint with RATP during a trip to France, the RATP Group Mediator has signed an agreement with the European Consumer Centre. This agreement aims to guarantee and promote consumer rights in Europe.
The RATP Group Mediator and the European Consumer Centre created a partnership to further enhance the effectiveness of out-of-court settlements of disputes pertaining to urban transport on the RATP network, including the bus, metro and RER.
>> Agreement with the European Consumer Centre
Moreover, since the Tourism and Travel Mediator already has general powers to intervene concerning passenger transport, the two Mediators sought to establish a protocol that would establish their jurisdiction and define the terms by which cases would be transmitted from one Mediator to the other.
>> Protocol with the Tourism and Travel Mediator
The RATP Group and SNCF Mediators have been working together, for several decades, to refer customers to the Mediator with the authority to investigate their dispute, in a spirit of efficiency and transparency. The two Mediators decided to sign a protocol to make their respective areas of jurisdiction even clearer for customers. The protocol, which was updated in 2019, is available on both Mediators’ websites and in their respective reports.
>> Protocol with the SNCF Mobilités Mediator
Lastly, the RATP Group Mediator is a member of the Mediators’ Club on behalf of the general public. The Club was created in 2002 to bring together the Mediators of organisations (companies, administrations and local governments) that share the same values in terms of mediation. From the beginning, it has been the ambition of all these organisations to better listen and to handle more effectively complaints from citizens/users/consumers, and thus contribute to improving the procedures for settling disputes amicably.
>> Mediators’ Club
The RATP Group Mediator is featured on the list of consumer mediators: http://www.economie.gouv.fr/mediation-conso/des-mediateurs-pour-chaque-litige
The European online dispute resolution platform, which can be used to determine which mediator has jurisdiction in the case of cross-border disputes, is now available in all European Union member countries at the following address: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.home.chooseLanguage
Associations serving on the collegiate body that designates the RATP Group Mediator
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ADEIC Association de Défense, d’Education et d’Information du Consommateur
27 Rue des Tanneries, 75013, Paris -
ALLDC Association Léo Lagrange pour la Défense des Consommateurs
150 Rue des Poissonniers, 75883, Paris Cedex -
CGL Confédération Générale du Logement
29 Rue des Cascades, 75020, Paris -
CNAFAL Conseil National des Associations Familiales Laïques
108 Avenue Ledru Rollin, 75011, Paris -
CNAFC Confédération Nationale des Associations Familiales Catholiques
28 Place Saint Georges, 75009, Paris -
CSF-CNAPSF Confédération Syndicale des Familles - Comité National des Associations Populaires Familiales Syndicales
53 Rue Riquet, 75019, Paris -
FF Familles de France
28 Place Saint Georges, 75009, Paris -
FNAUT Ile-de-France - Fédération Nationale des Associations d’Usagers des Transports d’IIe-de-France
32 Rue Raymond Losserand, 75014, Paris -
INDECOSA-CGT Association pour l’Information et la Défense des Consommateurs Salariés - CGT
263 Rue de Paris, 93516, Montreuil Cedex -
UNAF Union Nationale des Associations Familiales
28 Place Saint Georges, 75009, Paris
Associations that are members of the Mediation Evaluation and Control Commission and cannot be part of the collegiate body that designates the Mediator*
* In compliance with the provisions of regulation no. 2015-1607 of 7 December 2015 pertaining to the conditions for designating company mediators
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AFOC Association Force Ouvrière Consommateurs de Paris
141 Avenue du Maine, 75014, Paris -
UFC - Que Choisir Ile-de-France Union Fédérale des Consommateurs - Association Que Choisir Ile-de-France
54 Rue de l’Ouest, 75014, Paris -
CLCV Consommation, Logement et Cadre de Vie
59 Boulevard Exelmans, 75016, Paris -
FR - Familles Rurales
7 Cité d'Antin, 75009, Paris