The consumer association FACUA has denounced a website that offers environmental labels for vehicles. They offer the labels at a higher price than set by the General Directorate of Transport (DGT).
According to FACUA, this website could mislead users by giving them the impression that they are administering through a public entity. This could lead to confusion and financial difficulties if labels are charged a higher amount.
The environmental label that deceives many people
The eco-label is a sticker that indicates the pollutant emissions of a vehicle. In addition, traffic is compulsory in certain urban areas where traffic restrictions apply.
The DGT is responsible for awarding these labels and sets the official prices for their purchase. However, according to FACUA’s complaint, there is a website that charges almost double the fees set by the organization.
This website claims to be managed by the DGT and although the logo is similar to that of the public body, it is not the official website of the General Directorate of Transport. According to FACUA, they consider the site to be dgt-online.com claims to be from DGT without “visibly announcing that it is a private website.”
The website “uses a blue color with a logo and design very similar to that of the website DGT in the header”. In this way, they deceive users and charge more for a procedure that actually costs only 5 euros. On the other hand, in this private company it would cost about 9 euros.
Ecolabel is a label that classifies vehicles according to their energy efficiency and environmental impact. The rules are voluntary, but several cities have municipal ordinances that restrict the movement of vehicles due to their specific features.
Madrid it is an example. “If you buy directly from them DGT or at the post office, buying the label costs €5,” recalls Facua.
The consumer association has denounced this situation
The consumer association alarm about the danger of this situation. Many driver You could fall into the trap of paying a disproportionate price for an eco-label that should be much cheaper.
They claim that the website in question could exploit the similarity in design and name. All of this is designed to mislead users and make them believe that they are running the administration directly with the DGT. FACUA has reported the matter to the Community Directorate-General for Trade and Consumer Affairs Madrid.
They argue that the name of the website “may also lead one to believe that it is an official site of the human trafficking agency.” Well, it does not indicate that it is not an official site of DGT until the end where you can read: “Authorized dealer, we are not DGT”.
In addition, they recall that the law against unfair competition states that anyone who is “likely to mislead the persons to whom it is directed or reached” is considered unfair. The organization criticizes the fact that this website “charges 8.95 euros for the environmental sticker”.
This means that users who purchase it believe they are on the official portal of the DGTYou will suffer economic damage. In short: you pay more for something that doesn’t have that value.
In addition, FACUA warns: “Until a few days ago, the legal notice indicated that a company called Label Medioambiental SL was behind the site.” With an address on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrida company that doesn’t exist.”
“Now they have changed their position and say that the company is a separate company, New Marketing Services SL, with its registered office in New York, more precisely on Broadway,” the organization added.
