The EU and the UK are usually very pro-consumer, so it’s surprising that they let rental car companies get away with such outrageously high fees for the amount of work involved.
Very often, even when faced with a relatively small fine, the rental company directly charges the renter's credit/debit card an excessive and unjustified administrative fee. This fee typically ranges from €45.00 to €90.00, but can be much higher.
To protect consumers, the AGCM ( Italian Competition and Market Authority ) intervened , with bulletin no. 22/2022 of 13.06.2022 , issuing six provisions addressed to six different car rental companies (EuropCar Italia, Sicily By Car, Sixt Rent a Car, Locautorent, B-Rent, Autovia), declaring the unfair nature – pursuant to articles 33, paragraphs 1 and 2, letter f), 34 and 35, paragraph 1 of the Codice del Consumo (=Consumer Law) – of all those clauses that provide for penalties to be paid to rental companies in the event of administrative management of assessment reports .
The above clause is, therefore, an unfair clause .
The expression unfair clause refers to clauses inserted within a contract which, due to their content, lead to an imbalance of rights and obligations to the detriment of one party and in favour of the other .
The regulatory provisions for unfair terms are found in the Codice Civile (=Civil Law), Articles 1341 and 1342, and in the Consumer Code, Articles 33 et seq. of D. Lgs. (=Legislative Decree) 205/2006. The protection provided by the Codice del Consumo applies in cases where one of the contracting parties is a consumer and the other a professional or entrepreneur.
According to art. 36 of the Codice del Consumo, the clauses " considered unfair pursuant to articles 33 and 34 are null and void while the contract remains valid for the rest ".
Therefore, if in a contract with a car rental company, a simple signature is placed in the part of the contract where one agrees – among many others – to the charge for the administrative management costs of the inspection report, this will not imply the approval, by the lessor, of the unfair clause, determining its nullity .
As a result, the rental company will not be entitled to charge you for the costs of handling the report.
For those who wish to recover what they have lost, these are the options available:
Act independently – in this case, the renter could try, through phonecalls, emails and so on, to get the costs charged back;
Hiring a lawyer
Result: most consumers will just pay (or should I say: they do not take any action when the amount is debited from their credit card).
