More fines set by consumer board

The Balearic consumer board imposed fines totalling 64'282 euros last year, compared to 49'910 euros in 2000, according to a report released yesterday by the Balearic ministry of health and consumer affairs. The fines are for cases of fraud brought to light by the board's own inspectors, or through the complaints of consumers. The number of complaints filed by the public was 2'243 last year, compared to 2'101 in 2000 and 1'808 in 1999. A ministry spokesman said yesterday that once a complaint is filed, a detailed study is made to see if the law has been broken. The sectors the public is most disatisfied with are the car sector, dealers and repairs, which attracted 198 complaints last year, followed by supply (172), leisure and tourism (163), transport (140), housing (132), real estate and similar (77), repairs (62), home repairs (59) and education (59). The most common infractions are defective, incomplete, unfinished and fraudulent services, contract conditions, quality of product, sales conditions and misleading advertising. The consumer board inspects establishments, analyses products and examines trading practices. The health and consumer affairs ministry is aiming to provide the Balearics with two consumer offices per 1'000 inhabitants (the national average). In order to achieve this it is setting up new offices in different parts of the Balearics at the rate of two a year. It started this policy in the year 2000.