Adventure tours in Peru: who is liable if there's an accident?

What Indecopi decided in Huacachina

On 25 June 2026 the Commission of Indecopi’s Ica Regional Office decided a proceeding it had opened on its own initiative against two companies, Aventura Sin Fronteras E.I.R.L. and Lima Experience S.A.C. (Resolution 131-2026/CPC-INDECOPI-ICA). The case was a dune-buggy ride (a paseo en vehículo tubular) through the Huacachina dunes, in Ica.

According to the resolution, the passengers were left inside the vehicle with nobody with them while it was temporarily parked on the dunes. The buggy suddenly slid and collided, and a tourist on board died. The resolution gives two dates for the event: the background section says 31 May 2025 and the operative part says 30 May 2025.

The Commission upheld the case against both companies for breaching article 25 of the Consumer Protection and Defense Code (Ley 29571), «toda vez que no adoptaron las medidas de seguridad necesarias durante la prestación del servicio turístico de paseo en vehículos tubulares» (since they did not take the necessary safety measures while providing the dune-buggy tour service), exposing consumers «a un riesgo injustificado para su vida e integridad» (to an unjustified risk to their life and physical integrity). It fined each one 450 UIT. This is a first-instance decision: it can be appealed to Indecopi’s Specialized Consumer Protection Chamber. The details are in the news item on the fine.

The agency that sells the tour isn’t off the hook just for being an intermediary

Lima Experience S.A.C. argued it had acted only as an «agente turístico e intermediario comercial» (tour agent and commercial intermediary). The Commission answered that «la sola invocación de una condición de intermediario no resulta suficiente para descartar preliminarmente la existencia de obligaciones derivadas de la relación de consumo» (merely invoking intermediary status is not enough to rule out, at the outset, obligations arising from the consumer relationship). It gave it the same fine as the other company.

What this means for you, in our reading: if you’re hurt on a tour you bought through an agency, address your complaint to the agency too. The agency saying it only resold the ride does not end the discussion. That is what the Commission decided in this case, at first instance; it is not a rule written into an article.

“Risky activity” on the ticket: what happened in this case

Aventura Sin Fronteras E.I.R.L. raised two defences: that the risk is inherent to adventure activities and that it warned of it on the tickets, and that a third party intervened while the vehicle was parked without a driver. The Commission still upheld the case: what weighed was that the necessary safety measures were not taken, with passengers inside a parked vehicle and nobody with them.

We don’t turn this into a general rule: it is what Indecopi decided in one case. What is a general rule is article 50(a) of Ley 29571, which declares abusive, and void outright, clauses «que excluyan o limiten la responsabilidad del proveedor o sus dependientes por dolo o culpa, o las que trasladen la responsabilidad al consumidor por los hechos u omisiones del proveedor» (that exclude or limit the liability of the provider or its staff for intent or fault, or that shift liability to the consumer for the provider’s acts or omissions). Our reading is that a ticket clause saying the company is not liable for anything, not even its own fault, falls under that paragraph. A notice that only informs you of the activity’s risks is something else; in Huacachina, warning of the risk on the tickets did not prevent the sanction. More on this in adhesion contracts and unfair terms.

What the general duty of safety is

Article 25 of Ley 29571 sets the general duty of safety (deber general de seguridad): «Los productos o servicios ofertados en el mercado no deben conllevar, en condiciones de uso normal o previsible, riesgo injustificado o no advertido para la salud o seguridad de los consumidores o sus bienes.» (Products or services offered on the market must not, under normal or foreseeable conditions of use, carry an unjustified or unwarned risk to the health or safety of consumers or their property.) In a bus case on the Cusco–Livitaca route, Indecopi’s Chamber upheld in April 2026 the company’s liability «por generar un riesgo injustificado a la seguridad y salud de sus pasajeros, en condiciones de uso normal de su servicio» (for creating an unjustified risk to the safety and health of its passengers, under normal conditions of use of its service) (Resolution 1238-2026/SPC-INDECOPI). In Huacachina, the Ica Commission applied the same article to an adventure tour.

Our reading is that the idea both resolutions share is this: an activity can carry its own risks, but the provider is liable when it adds an unjustified risk by not taking the necessary safety measures.

How much Indecopi can fine

Article 110 of the Code allows fines «de hasta cuatrocientos cincuenta (450) Unidades Impositivas Tributarias (UIT)» (of up to 450 UIT), which is the cap for very serious breaches. In Huacachina, the preliminary fine came to 961.07 UIT. Because the breach was graded as very serious, the Commission applied that cap: 450 UIT for each company. The full tiers are in how much Indecopi can fine.

The fine is a sanction. What can benefit you directly is a corrective measure. In the Cusco bus case, the Chamber upheld the order to cover the injured passengers’ outstanding medical costs (news on the Olivares case). In Huacachina, the corrective measure orders both companies to refrain from selling or running dune-buggy tours without suitable safety, supervision and control conditions.

What to do after an accident on a tour

1. Keep everything: ticket, receipt, chats with the agency, photos and the names of both companies.
2. Complain in the Libro de Reclamaciones of the agency and of the company that ran the ride.
3. Take the case to Indecopi if they don’t answer: a reclamo to conciliate, or a denuncia if you want a sanction and a corrective measure.
4. If there were serious injuries or a death, Indecopi does not investigate crimes. The Constitution gives the Ministerio Público the task of «conducir desde su inicio la investigación del delito» (leading the investigation of a crime from the start) (article 159, item 4). A criminal complaint is a separate route from the complaint to Indecopi.

If you bought a full tour package, also see your rights with travel agencies.

What this page does not cover

We do not cover civil compensation for damages, the insurance a dune-buggy operator may or must carry, or MINCETUR or regional government rules on licensing these activities. We did not review other Indecopi decisions on adventure sports.