Check whether your request meets the eligibility requirements. It must satisfy several conditions, particularly regarding deadlines, the steps you have already taken, and the nature of the dispute.

Check my eligibility

Find out how to submit your case, which supporting documents to provide, and the different ways to send your file to the Mediator.

How to contact the Mediator

You must submit your case to the Mediator in writing (online or by post), along with all the supporting documents needed for its review. You cannot contact the Mediator by email. If your case is eligible, you will receive a response within 90 days of being notified that your request has been received.

When a customer submits a request to the Mediator and provides all the documents needed to review it, the Mediator notifies the parties of its receipt by email or post. This notification marks the start of the process.

The Mediator and their team review cases based on the information provided by the parties.

• For commercial disputes, the response deadline is 90 days from the notification that the request referred to above has been received. The Mediator may extend this deadline if the dispute is complex and will inform the parties accordingly.
• For penalty notices, referring the case to the Mediator suspends the referral of the notice to the public prosecutor.

Please note:

You may withdraw from the mediation process at any time.
If your dispute falls outside the Mediator’s remit, you will be informed within 3 weeks.

The Mediator issues opinions based on law and fairness, by post or email depending on how the case was submitted. Opinions are issued in French or English, according to the language in which the case was submitted.

• For commercial disputes: the opinion is a proposal. The parties may accept or reject it within 14 days of the date shown on the opinion. After this deadline, the opinion will be considered accepted. If either party expressly rejects it within this period, the opinion will not be applied and the other party will be informed of the rejection.
• For requests concerning penalty notices (SNCF Voyageurs): the opinion is a proposal. If both parties accept a reduction in the penalty amount, the process continues and you must pay the fine in accordance with the Mediator’s opinion. If you do not pay, the penalty notice will be referred to the public prosecutor and the fine will be increased.

In both cases, the Mediator’s opinion is final and cannot be appealed to the Mediator. The proposed solution may differ from a court’s decision. You may bring your case before a court to assert your rights. In that proceeding, the Mediator’s opinion cannot be submitted as evidence and has no legal value.

If the complainant does not follow the Mediator’s opinion and the fine remains unpaid, the legal proceedings continue and the penalty notice is referred to the public prosecutor, pursuant to Article 529-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.