How do I report an illegal bureaucratic barrier to Indecopi?

What a bureaucratic barrier is

Peru’s Law on the Prevention and Elimination of Bureaucratic Barriers is Legislative Decree 1256. In the version set by Law 31755 (2023), it defines a bureaucratic barrier (barrera burocrática) as a requirement, condition, limitation, prohibition or charge imposed by a public entity that blocks access to or continued activity in the market, or that can affect people going through administrative procedures.

The same definition says a requirement is not bad just because it exists. What Indecopi, Peru’s consumer and competition authority, reviews is whether it is illegal or unreasonable.

If your problem is simpler, for example an office refused to accept a document at the counter, start with what to do if you are refused a government procedure. This page covers only the Indecopi route.

Illegal or unreasonable

• Illegal. Indecopi checks whether a law gave the entity the power to impose the requirement, whether it followed the formalities to approve and publish it, and whether the requirement breaks administrative simplification rules or any other rule (article 14.1). Demanding requirements that are not in the entity’s TUPA, the official list of procedures and requirements every public office must publish, is one of the cases the law names expressly (article 35.1, letter b).
• Unreasonable. The measure is arbitrary (no justification, or it does not serve its purpose) or disproportionate (excessive, or a less burdensome option would achieve the same goal) (article 16.1). For Indecopi to review this, you must challenge the reasonableness and give some supporting indication. Saying only that the measure costs money is not enough.

What this route does not cover

Article 3 excludes several things. The most important: anything set by a law or by another national rule with the force of law cannot be reported as a barrier to Indecopi. Neither can non-linked taxes such as general taxes, sanctions themselves, or fees for services unrelated to administrative functions. The list in article 3 has more cases.

Who can file

• Individuals going through a procedure. The law calls them administrados (article 3, item 9). You do not need a business.
• Companies and people with an economic activity. The law calls them agentes económicos.
• Anyone, on behalf of collective interests. Law 31914 (2023) lets you file even if the barrier does not affect you, if you say so in the complaint (article 21.4).
• Associations. They must say whether they act in their own name or represent their members, and in that case prove powers of representation.

You do not need a lawyer (article 21.1). The law speaks of individuals and legal entities, with no distinction by nationality.

Where to file and what it costs

The complaint goes to Indecopi’s Commission for the Elimination of Bureaucratic Barriers (CEB). The law also uses “Commission” for the commissions at Indecopi’s regional offices that have this function (article 3, item 1). The second instance is the Specialized Chamber for the Elimination of Bureaucratic Barriers (Sala).

On cost: article 20 requires a fee. Indecopi’s TUPA, in the consolidated version published on gob.pe on 13 May 2026, sets S/ 507.60 (fee code 307001270). The same TUPA says you can file at the head office, at regional offices, at the Lima Norte, Callao, Ventanilla and Lima Este MAC centres, or through the online filing desk.

How the procedure moves

1. Admission. If your complaint is missing something, Indecopi can ask you once to complete it within two business days (article 26.2).
2. The entity’s answer. The entity has five business days to answer, extendable once by up to ten more business days (article 29.1).
3. Commission decision. The procedure lasts at most 120 business days (article 19).
4. Appeal. You have 15 business days to appeal (article 32.1). There is no reconsideration. Since Law 32587 (May 2026), an appeal against the final decision is granted, as a rule, without suspensive effect.
5. Chamber decision. It also has up to 120 business days.

What you get if you win

• For you. If you filed the complaint, Indecopi orders that the barrier not be applied to you (article 10.1). This covers illegal and unreasonable barriers.
• For everyone. If the illegal barrier sits in an administrative rule (an ordinance or a TUPA, for example) or, since Law 32587, in a de facto action (actuación material), Indecopi orders its non-application for everyone (article 8.1). That takes effect from the day after a summary of the decision is published in El Peruano, the official gazette (article 8.3). The exception is when the illegality came from the indirect revocation of a business licence.
• Refund. If you paid a procedure fee that is declared illegal or unreasonable in your case, Indecopi can order a refund (article 43).

If the barrier is only unreasonable and you filed on your own behalf, the effect covers your case. A general effect for unreasonableness comes in procedures Indecopi opens on its own (article 9) or in complaints on behalf of collective interests (article 21.4).

If the entity keeps applying it

After the summary is published, an official who keeps applying the barrier can be sanctioned (article 8.3). The fine reaches 20 UIT (S/ 110,000) for disobeying the order (article 34). The UIT is Peru’s tax reference unit. The entity itself can be fined up to 20 UIT when its staff apply certain illegal barriers, such as demanding requirements outside the TUPA, refusing to accept filings, or suspending procedures without a law allowing it (article 35). The article 38 scale runs from a warning to 20 UIT.

Two real cases

• The Interpol record for nationality. In Resolution 0382-2022/SEL-INDECOPI, of 19 October 2022, the Chamber declared it an illegal barrier for the Ministry of the Interior and Migraciones to demand the Interpol record check (Ficha de canje internacional) to obtain nationality by naturalization, by marriage and under the Peru–Spain dual nationality agreement. The summary was published in El Peruano on 13 January 2023. More on that document in the Interpol record check for foreigners.
• Sunedu’s fee. In Resolution 0257-2026/SEL-INDECOPI, of 5 June 2026, the Chamber declared illegal the S/ 1,188.50 fee for recognizing degrees and titles obtained abroad. According to the summary, Sunedu did not prove the amount was calculated with the mandatory cost methodology. The summary was published on 25 June 2026. Details in recognizing a foreign degree with Sunedu.

If a municipality imposes the barrier when you apply for a licence, also check the maximum requirements the law sets in the municipal business licence.

Complaint or informative complaint

Besides a formal complaint, you can file an informative complaint (denuncia informativa) so Indecopi investigates on its own. Your identity is kept confidential if you ask (article 7.3). Since Law 31755, the Technical Secretariat must handle it within 20 business days and has 45 business days to open a procedure or close the file with a reasoned decision (article 7.4). On this route you are not a party to the procedure. We did not check whether an informative complaint has any cost: ask Indecopi.