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Indre’s family from Vilnius applied to SCRPA for a childcare and education contract, with whom “Vaikystės sodas” terminated the contract at the end of March. described this story 15 minutes.
According to the data from the Registry Center, the shareholder of Vaikystės sodo is the company Kibirkštis, and its shareholder is Austėja Landsbergienė.
How 15 minutes According to Indre, the complaint was presented with the argument that the kindergarten, having unilaterally terminated the contract, refused to reimburse the child’s entry.
The family provided the Office with copies of the agreement and its annexes, and a commission established by SCRPA not only evaluated the elements related to the entrance fee, but also analyzed the entire agreement with the annexes.
It stated that 11 clauses of the contract and 2 clauses of the contract annex violated the balance of rights and obligations of the parties to the contract and the rights and interests of the consumer.
The Service determined that several other conditions met the criteria for determining the abusive contractual conditions established in the Civil Code, as they gave the kindergarten the right to change the conditions of the contract unilaterally, without a contractual or sufficient basis.
They also impose disproportionate parental civil liability for breach or improper performance of the contract, cancel or unduly limit parental authority against the merchant or another party in the event of total or partial breach or improper fulfillment of any contractual obligation.
At that time, the representatives of the kindergarten make sure that all the terms of the standard contract are fair and can justify it.
The price can be changed sufficiently.
The agreement of the “Kindergarten” with the parents stipulates that the kindergarten sets the service and the entrance fees for each school year separately and notifies it 2 months before the beginning of the school year.
The agreement establishes the right of the company to unilaterally establish and modify the education fee, other services and the payment procedure.
However, according to the SCRPA, the Civil Code stipulates that after the conclusion of a contract, the price of services can only be changed sufficiently, which must be provided for in the contract.
“The consumer must pay the increased price of the service only if the service provider proves that the price increase was unavoidable for the proper execution of the contract and that this could not have been foreseen at the time of execution”, emphasizes the SCRPA. interests.
Photo by Saulius Žiūra / Kindergarten. Associative photo.
The contract also stipulates that the customer can terminate the contract with 30 days’ notice if he does not agree to the rate changes.
If the customer does not sign the renewed contract with the new rate, it is considered that they do not agree with the changes, so “Vaikystės sodas” can terminate the contract 14 days in advance.
The nursery reserves the right to unilaterally terminate the contract for important reasons 7 days in advance.
The kindergarten was provided with significantly shorter notice periods than the consumer.
According to the SCRPA, the parties to the contract have acquired unequal opportunities and rights, as the kindergarten has been provided with significantly shorter notice periods than the consumer.
It should also be noted that the contract has been drawn up by the service provider in advance, unilaterally, without agreeing its terms with the consumer, so the consumer did not have the opportunity to negotiate with the service provider.
SCRPA noted that the Civil Code provides for the possibility of terminating the contract only for important reasons. In this case, the service provider must fully compensate the customer.
“Given that unilateral termination at the initiative of the educational establishment can have very serious negative consequences for the consumer and their child, the criteria for the educational establishment to exercise this right of unilateral withdrawal must be clear, defined and sufficiently justified for the consumer.” – declared in the resolution.
Fees are non-refundable upon termination of the contract
The agreement stipulates that the child’s parents pay a non-refundable entrance fee within 5 days of signing, and after the agreement is finalized, the entrance fee, tuition paid, and other fees paid are not refunded.
The entrance fee is 300 euros.
SCRPA noted that it can happen that parents terminate the contract because of kindergarten.
“In this case, the consumer should not suffer additional losses,” emphasizes the resolution. The Commission considers that it is not clear from the contract what would happen in such a case, thus violating the balance of rights and obligations between the service provider and the consumer to the detriment of the consumer.
Couldn’t he have foreseen the fines?
The contract stipulates that if the parents terminate the contract without giving a month’s notice, they will be required to pay a one-month tuition penalty.
However, according to the service, the Civil Code stipulates that upon termination of the contract by the recipient, the recipient, in this case the parents, must pay the provider (kindergarten) a proportion of the price in proportion to the services borrowed and other reasonable costs incurred by the provider.
The objective is not to compensate the service provider for losses, but to punish the consumer, which is prohibited by Lithuanian law.
“The Civil Code does not provide punitive sanctions and the penalties are only intended to compensate the injured party for losses, but they cannot allow the injured party to abuse his right and unjustly enrich himself at the expense of another party (…) . Paying a fine equivalent to one month’s tuition, that is, 479 euros, is not intended to compensate for the losses of the service provider, but to punish the consumer, which is prohibited by Lithuanian law ”, states the resolution.
The SCRPA decision establishes that the kindergarten provided the right to apply discounts, but did not specify the criteria to be followed, therefore, in the opinion of the service, the kindergarten “Kindergarten” generally has the right to apply discounts differently in each case, possibly abusing your position and rights.
Photo by Saulius Žiūra / Kindergarten. Associative photo.
Money already paid is not refunded
The Office has also been trapped by clauses in the contract that stipulate that if a child does not attend kindergarten due to illness, family leave or other reasons, the parents are not exempt from tuition fees and fees for other services. requested, and money already paid is not refunded.
The annex to the contract with Indre’s family establishes an education fee of 479 euros, which, depending on the service, includes, among other things, the child’s full-time education.
In the decision, SCRPA cites the Civil Code, which obliges the consumer to pay only for the services that are actually provided.
“It is not clear on what legal basis the service provider stipulates in the contract that the education fee is not reduced if the child becomes ill or does not attend school for other reasons,” wrote the consumer rights guard in the ruling, emphasizing that this violates the balance of rights and obligations between the service provider and the consumer. to the detriment of.
Children without insurance are at risk of being expelled from kindergarten
SCRPA also noted that the agreement stipulates that parents agree to insure the child with liability insurance at their expense no later than 5 business days after Kindergarten requests it, for compensation for damages. caused to other people, during their stay at the educational institution. , For the benefit of Kindergarten, if the child’s behavior poses a real, obvious, and permanent threat to the safety or health of the student and / or other members of the kindergarten community.
If the parents do not do so, the kindergarten reserves the right to terminate the contract unilaterally.
The Authority determined that such an arrangement had to be negotiated and agreed upon individually, and that the insurance obligation was voluntary, which, according to the SCRPA, was not the case here.
The Consumer Guardians noted that under this agreement, in the event of harm caused by a child to persons other than Kindergarten and in the event of an insured event, the Kindergarten is entitled to the benefit and not to the injured party,
The Office found that this condition violated the balance of rights and obligations between the service provider and the consumer to the detriment of the consumer.
SCRPA – Damaged Clients Can Request Compensation
Does the kindergarten have to change the terms of the contract after such SCRPA decision? What to do now for Childhood Garden and parents?
According to the spokesperson for the service, Natalija Jarmulkovič, according to the legislation, the SCRPA controls the standard conditions of contracts and disputes abusive conditions in consumer contracts.
According to her, after the SCRPA commission evaluated the terms of the company’s contract in terms of unfair terms in the contracts with consumers and established unfair terms in terms of consumers, the SCRPA proposes to the seller or service provider to change , cancel or stop applying these terms when signing contracts with consumers.
If the company does not consider the proposals of the SCRPA, the SCRPA has the right to go to court.
“In this case, the process of negotiating a contract with the company is usually carried out, which informs about its future actions. If the company does not take into account the proposals of the SCRPA, the SCRPA has the right to request the court the unfair termination or the annulment or modification of the terms ”, explained the representative.
According to N. Jarmulkovič, consumers who have suffered damages due to the terms of a consumer contract, who have been declared unfair by decision of the SCRPA Commission, have the right to file an application with the SCRPA in accordance with the Law on Protection of the Consumer or before a court of general jurisdiction.
Childhood Garden Representative: All conditions are fair, we can justify it
And what is kindergarten going to do?
Rita Meilūnaitė, Marketing Director of Vaikystės sodo 15 minutes In his response, he emphasized that the kindergarten did not agree with the SCRPA’s decision.
“It is regrettable that the conclusions were written without giving us the opportunity to present our arguments to the commission. All the terms of the standard contract are fair and we can justify it. We are currently preparing a response to the commission with detailed arguments and await their updated explanation, ”he emphasized.
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