Mato Grosso Procons plan joint actions in technical meeting

New legislation, scams against consumers, electricity reading and accumulation of consumption, legal and contractual guarantee, road passenger transport and inspection of retail trade. These are some of the consumer protection issues that will be discussed during the 44th Procons Technical Meeting. The event, which began this Monday (25) and continues this Tuesday (26), brings together around 120 employees from State and Municipal Procons of Mato Grosso.

During the opening, the Deputy Secretary of Consumer Protection and Defense (Procon-MT), Márcia Santos, recalled that training is a permanent action of the Secretariat of Social Assistance and Citizenship (Setasc), through Procon-MT.

“Protecting consumer rights is a network effort. I want to thank everyone who was willing to come to Cuiabá to participate in our training so that we could talk and plan actions together. I would also like to thank the Procons partner bodies that are participating in our Technical Meeting. We all know the pain that affects consumers”, highlighted the deputy secretary.

Public defender Carlos Eduardo de Souza emphasized that the Technical Meeting is extremely important to promote consumer issues. “The Public Defender’s Office is a partner of Procons and congratulates the body for holding the event. It is essential that we can talk and exchange knowledge. The exchange of information strengthens consumer protection in the State, as it allows more demands to be resolved within the scope of Procons, without needing to be judicialized”, explained Carlos Eduardo.

The delegate from the Consumer Police Department (Decon), Rogério Ferreira, also highlighted the importance of Technical Meetings. “It is very gratifying to participate in these trainings, as we have the opportunity to talk to employees of the Municipal Procons, from distant cities who, sometimes, have more difficulty accessing Decon. Technical Meetings promote integration between the Consumer Police and Procons. We are available to the coordinators to help and be a bridge between the Municipal Procons and the police stations in the interior of the State”, he highlighted.

The training continued with a lecture by the Consumer Protection conciliator and federal deputy, Gisela Simona, who spoke about the new legislation in consumer relations. Among the new legislation is State Law No. 12,460, which prohibits the interruption of the electricity supply to consumers who maintain a home care service while treatment continues.

“This state law was published on March 15 of this year and will come into force 90 days after publication. To be entitled to the benefit, as soon as the equipment is installed, consumers must inform the concessionaire. However, the ban on interruption of energy supply does not suspend any initiative to collect consumption bills”, informs Gisela Simona.

Afterwards, the Secretary of Social Assistance and Citizenship, Grasi Bugalho, spoke about “Public Management and protection of social rights”. Guidelines for the design of public policies, Multi-Year Plan, Annual Work Plan, programs, projects, subprograms and actions were some of the topics covered in the secretary’s speech.

“I want to congratulate and thank you for the invitation. Procons employees work with public policies to promote consumer protection. Therefore, it is essential to understand public and project management. If a coordinator wants to improve his Procon’s service, he will have to think about how to do this and develop and execute a project. In order to deliver quality public policies that reflect improvements for the population, we have to qualify in projects”, highlighted the secretary.

The directors of Procon in Confresa, Raira Moraes, and Castanheira, Edna Moraes, said that the Procons Technical Meetings are a great opportunity for bodies from more distant municipalities. “It is a time to exchange experiences, update, and unite among Procons. We have access to knowledge, which we replicate in our municipalities and which qualifies our work”, said Raíra.

Edna Moraes highlighted that everyone is there for the consumers. “In Castanheira, as in many Procons, payroll loans are one of the most complained about problems. In our meetings we can seek joint solutions to better serve consumers,” she highlighted.

PROCONS Technical Meeting
Credits: Josi Dias

Computer delivery

During the Technical Meeting, an agreement was signed and computers were delivered to 35 Municipal Procons. The equipment was purchased by the State and donated to municipalities to be used to promote consumer protection, as reported by the deputy secretary, Márcia Santos.

The director of Procon de Sorriso, Lene Engler, who received a computer and a notebook, emphasized that the equipment will add to the service provided to consumers. “For Procon de Sorriso, it is extremely important to improve service to the population. I thank Setasc and Procon”, she said.

PROCONS Technical Meeting
Credits: Josi Dias

Schedule

The first day of the 44th Procons Technical Meeting ended with a lecture by Procon-MT consumer protection conciliator, Jeferson Neves, on “Sanctioning process in practice”.

The event continues this Tuesday (26), at the Hotel Mato Grosso Palace, in the center of Cuiabá. Among the topics discussed on the second day of the event are: Consumer protection supervision and coordination and cooperation between consumer protection bodies; Scams – responsibility; Electricity: process of reading electrical energy (urban and rural), accumulation of consumption, TOI – Term of Occurrence and Inspection; Public communication and interview tips; Guidance on monthly reports; Legal and contractual guarantee; Consumer rights and road passenger transport; Inspection in retail trade; Alignment (protest at a notary’s office, responsibility for payment of fraudulent electricity bills, insurance not taken out).