Article 101Dispute resolution

1. Member States shall ensure that payment service providers put in place and apply adequate and effective complaint resolution procedures for the settlement of complaints of payment service users concerning the rights and obligations arising under Titles III and IV of this Directive and shall monitor their performance in that regard.

Those procedures shall be applied in every Member State where the payment service provider offers the payment services and shall be available in an official language of the relevant Member State or in another language if agreed between the payment service provider and the payment service user.

2. Member States shall require that payment service providers make every possible effort to reply, on paper or, if agreed between payment service provider and payment service user, on another durable medium, to the payment service users’ complaints. Such a reply shall address all points raised, within an adequate timeframe and at the latest within 15 business days of receipt of the complaint. In exceptional situations, if the answer cannot be given within 15 business days for reasons beyond the control of the payment service provider, it shall be required to send a holding reply, clearly indicating the reasons for a delay in answering to the complaint and specifying the deadline by which the payment service user will receive the final reply. In any event, the deadline for receiving the final reply shall not exceed 35 business days.

Member States may introduce or maintain rules on dispute resolution procedures that are more advantageous to the payment service user than that referred to in the first subparagraph. Where they do so, those rules shall apply.

3. The payment service provider shall inform the payment service user about at least one ADR entity which is competent to deal with disputes concerning the rights and obligations arising under Titles III and IV.

4. The information referred to in paragraph 3 shall be mentioned in a clear, comprehensive and easily accessible way on the website of the payment service provider, where one exists, at the branch, and in the general terms and conditions of the contract between the payment service provider and the payment service user. It shall specify how further information on the ADR entity concerned and on the conditions for using it can be accessed.