SIC fines Productos EPA Colombia $140,000

Colombia’s Superintendence of Industry and Commerce fined Productos EPA Colombia S.A.S. $140,476,000 for shortcomings in its e-commerce channel. Local press coverage said the decision centers on problems with consumer information, withdrawal rights, payment reversals, and legal warranty terms for online purchases.

What did the SIC find in the online store?

The SIC concluded that the company’s website did not provide clear or complete information for people buying online. According to Blu Radio, it also found improper restrictions on the legal warranty, while other reports pointed to problems in the information given to customers and in the terms of sale on the digital channel.

Cambio Colombia said the sanction was based on three specific charges. The first involved a refund policy that excluded Productos EPA Colombia S.A.S. from responsibility for products bought through distributors or third parties, which ignored the producer’s joint liability. The second was the lack of essential information for online purchases, including product features, an explanation of the right of withdrawal, how to exercise it, and the absence of a visible link to the consumer protection authority. The third charge was tied to shortcomings in information about payment reversals in electronic transactions.

How was the fine set?

The penalty was set at 100 current legal monthly minimum wages, equal to 11,600 basic value units, which translates to $140,476,000, according to Vanguardia. That outlet explicitly linked the decision to consumer protection failures in online sales.

El Tiempo attributed the sanction to Productos EPA Colombia S.A.S., the company that sells products associated with Epa Colombia. Infobae, meanwhile, described it as another blow to Daneidy Barrera Rojas’s hair products business, and said the measure applies to one of the products the entrepreneur promotes on the website from which she sells her hair-care line under that corporate name.

Seguimiento.co also reported that the company tied to Epa Colombia received a fine of about $140 million from the SIC, in line with shortcomings in the information provided to customers and in warranties for products sold online. In every report, the authority’s focus was on e-commerce.