Severe criticism of the Swedish Enforcement Authority for, among other things, poor service and inadequate justification for decisions

Summary of the decision: A cooperative association applied on multiple occasions for orders to pay unpaid membership fees. Having assessed that the applications could not be assessed within the scope of the payment order process, the Swedish Enforcement Authority passed the case on to its Debt Collection Division.

The investigation reveals shortcomings in the processing of the case in several regards. When contacted, the agency’s case officer gave incorrect information to the applicant. The agency’s justification for its decision lacked clarity. Furthermore, incoming documents were not registered in time.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman notes that the Swedish Enforcement Authority has repeatedly failed in its service obligation. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, there were significant shortcomings in the processing of the case that have adversely affected the applicant’s ability to exercise its rights. It is the assessment of the Parliamentary Ombudsman that this was due to a combination of individual mistakes, deficient procedures and, in certain regards, the agency’s failure to follow its own procedures. Given the overall circumstances, the Parliamentary Ombudsman is of the opinion that the agency is deserving of severe criticism.