Facts
On 7 November 2002, Serge Maret, a licensed business agent, sent a debt collection request to the Debt Collection Office of Geneva, on behalf of P., against F. for an amount of CHF 9,744.20 plus interest and costs, less several instalments totalling CHF 4,700. Simultaneously, he transferred an amount of CHF 70 as an advance on costs to his account opened with the office. Following the notification of the payment order on 15 January 2003, the office sent the copy of this document intended for the creditor on the 20th of the same month, against reimbursement of CHF 89.60, to the aforementioned representative. The creditor filed a complaint with the Supervisory Commission of Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Offices of the Canton of Geneva, which upheld the complaint, set the amount of costs to be borne by the creditor at CHF 65 and ordered the office to send the creditor his copy of the payment order. The office appealed against this decision to the Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Chamber of the DFC.
Considerations
The Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Chamber considered that, in accordance with Art. 13(1) FeeO-DCBA, postal fees must in principle be reimbursed, with the exception of the costs of sending by registered mail (Art. 13(3)(d) FeeO-DCBA). Thus, the costs of sending the copy of the payment order intended for the creditor, sent by signature letter (formerly "registered"), constitute a postal fee which the office was entitled to claim reimbursement for. The Chamber therefore upheld the office's appeal and considered that the amount to be borne by the creditor should be CHF 70, i.e. the basic fee of CHF 65 plus CHF 5 in postal…