Recent updates on the processing of the Customer Services Bill

This Bill is legally based on article 51 of the Spanish Constitution, which establishes that the public authorities must guarantee the defence of consumers and users in order to guarantee their safety, health and economic interest; it is also based on the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users, which includes the protection of these rights; and on the Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users in situations of social and economic vulnerability, which regulates the protection of consumers in situations of vulnerability.
 

The general purpose of this Bill is the need to modernise customer services in order to resolve complaints more efficiently. Practice shows that a significant number of complaints handled by the competent authorities could be resolved through improved customer services.
 

This particularly affects essential services such as telecommunications, utilities and the financial sector. With regard to the latter, it is intended to establish specific measures to ensure high standards of customer protection.
 

The Bill is divided into four chapters with twenty-three articles, a single transitory provision, a single derogatory provision and six final provisions.
 

Chapter I is devoted to the general provisions in which the purpose and scope of application of the law are defined. The purpose of this law is to establish minimum quality parameters for customer services, which will be compulsory for companies. Its scope of application is limited to the sale of goods and the provision of certain services.
 

Excluded from the scope of application of this Law, except for essential services of general interest, are those classified by Recommendation EC/2003/361 as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and, as regards Public Administrations, it will only apply to services of general interest provided by these when there is a consumer relationship with the clientele.
 

This law will have a supplementary nature in the financial sector as it will be applied specifically to customer service in order to try to guarantee high levels of protection and proportionality. It is also intended that financial institutions ensure that customer services are available for consumers in rural areas or for people with less capacity to access digital services, such as the elderly.
 

It is also intended that companies adapt their customer service channels to the needs of these groups, ensuring their access to basic financial products and services.
 

Chapter II deals with the regulation of minimum service quality levels. It is mainly established that the service is provided through the same means by which the contractual relationship was initiated, as this is the one initially chosen by the customer. However, in order to facilitate communication, it must be possible for customers to initiate communications through remote means of communication.
 

Companies should ensure that queries, complaints or claims are dealt with and resolved effectively, establishing maximum response times and clear follow-up mechanisms. It is considered essential for customers to have access to personalised attention from the company, which should be provided by trained personnel.
 

Chapter III is devoted to companies' evaluation obligations. Companies are required to establish a system of internal evaluation of the quality of their customer service, including annual audits to ensure the accuracy of their reports and compliance with standards. Auditing companies must be accredited by the National Accreditation Entity to guarantee their technical solvency.
 

Chapter IV of this law regulates the system of infractions and sanctions applicable to companies that fail to comply with this law. These infringements are considered consumer offences, for which reason the general sanctioning regime established in the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users is applied. Penalties can reach up to 1,000,000 euros.

Because of the impact that the regulation will have on the market, we must be attentive to the evolution of its processing. There is no doubt that as soon as it is approved and comes into force, the companies affected will have to develop systems to improve their customer services in order to adapt to this new regulation.