- Large companies and basic services must offer service that is free, accessible and measurable.
- The law sets maximum response times and the right to be served by a person.
- Companies have a year to adapt, with an annual assessment and an external audit.
The Official State Gazette of 27 December 2025 published Law 10/2025, of 26 December, regulating customer service, which entered into force on 28 December. The law sets minimum quality parameters and a mandatory assessment system for the service provided by certain companies, in order to strengthen consumer protection. It responds to widespread complaints: repeated calls, contradictory information and lack of reference details to follow procedures.
It applies to companies providing basic services of general interest —water, gas, electricity, passenger transport, postal services, electronic communications and financial services— and to large companies selling goods or services to consumers in Spain that meet at least one threshold of 250 employees, 50 million euros of turnover or 43 million of balance sheet total. Companies have twelve months to adapt their services.
What obligations it sets
Service must be free, effective, accessible, non-discriminatory and measurable, with tracking of queries, complaints and incidents. For calls, 95 % must be answered, on average, within a maximum of three minutes, and queries and complaints must be resolved within fifteen working days at most. For incidents affecting the continuity of essential services the deadline drops to two hours, and to five days for billing problems or undue charges.
An automated system cannot be the only channel: if the person asks, they must receive personal attention from an operator who identifies themselves at the start of the call. In addition, the company must provide a reference code and a durable receipt for each transaction, reply in the language used by the customer and, in regions with a co-official language, in the official language requested. This directly affects virtual assistants and voice menus: they may continue to exist, but they cannot close the door on speaking to a person.
Assessment, audit and protection
The companies covered must carry out an annual, documented assessment of the quality of their service, keep records for five years, publish the results on their website and undergo an annual audit by a body accredited by ENAC. This is a change of substance: customer service stops being merely a commercial commitment and becomes a process verifiable by a third party.
The law adds specific protections: in continuing contracts, service may not be suspended because of a complaint until there is a reasoned decision, except for safety reasons or sector rules, and priority and accessibility measures are provided for older people and people with disabilities. Non-compliance is treated as an administrative infringement when it affects vulnerable consumers, especially older people or people with disabilities.
What to review
Check whether the company exceeds any of the thresholds and, if so, diagnose its current service: waiting times, channels, the possibility of speaking to a person, incident records and resolution deadlines. Outsourced services also count, so review contracts with telephone or messaging service providers and require them to meet the parameters.
Twelve months seem enough, but adapting processes, staff and technology, and preparing the first audit, takes time. This note is general information: consult your adviser on whether your company is included and what changes it must make. If you are a consumer, keep the reference code and the receipt for each transaction. Start by measuring the starting position —actual waiting and resolution times and satisfaction— to know how far there is to go before compliance.
Good customer service is measured in minutes, in answers and in the trust it leaves behind.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
