Spain's rules
My operator is charging me a penalty for leaving before the commitment ends
The official steps, and a place to count your complaint.
Who this covers
Disputes about a minimum-term commitment (permanencia) or early-exit charge with a Spanish telecom operator, including charges for a subsidised phone and automatic renewal of the commitment. Not penalties after a price or terms change (es-telecom-contract-change).
Add your complaint
Rantr counts your complaint and shows you others who have it.
No promise of a fix or refund. Do not name private people or include private details. This does not send a complaint to the company.
Your official route
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Check your contract summary for the commitment and exit costs
The contract summary must state the contract length, renewal conditions, and the conditions, costs and penalties for ending it. A consumer contract cannot last more than 24 months.
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Check the penalty is proportional
A commitment does not stop you from leaving; the operator can claim back advantages linked to it. The early-exit penalty must be proportional to the days of the commitment you did not complete.
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Complain to your operator in writing and get a reference number
Deadline: Within one month from when you learned of the problem; complaining to the operator in that time is required before you can go to the OAUT.
Ask for the breakdown of the penalty and say what you dispute. Use the channel you used to sign up, or phone: the operator must accept both. It must give you a reference number for your complaint. If you complain by phone, ask for a document that proves you filed it and what it said.
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If there is no answer within a month, or you disagree, complain to the OAUT
Deadline: Within three months from the operator's answer, or from the end of its one-month period to answer.
The Oficina de Atención al Usuario de Telecomunicaciones (Ministry) handles complaints from individuals, self-employed people and microenterprises. File online (with a digital certificate) or on paper, and attach the operator's reference number, bills and contract. It resolves disputes about bills and contract terms, but not whether a clause is abusive; for that, go to a consumer office or consumer arbitration. It has six months to decide, and the operator must comply with its decision.
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Instead of the OAUT: consumer arbitration, if your operator accepts it
Deadline: To keep the OAUT open, ask for arbitration within the same three months.
You can take the dispute to a Junta Arbitral de Consumo; it only works if the operator submits to it. If the operator refuses arbitration, your three months to go to the OAUT count again from that refusal.
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Last resort: court
Before suing you must have tried to negotiate, and you need written proof of that attempt: for example, proof that the company received your request to negotiate or your proposal. If it does not reply within 30 calendar days of receiving it, the attempt counts as ended without agreement.
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Your written complaint
To: Your operator's customer service (the channel you used to sign up, or phone)
Must include
- Your full name and the account holder's ID (DNI/NIE)
- Customer or contract number
- Start date and length of the commitment, and your cancellation date
- The penalty charged, its amount and the bill it is on
- Why you dispute it (for example, not proportional to days left, commitment over 24 months, or not in the contract summary)
- What you ask for: a breakdown, cancellation or reduction of the penalty, and a refund if paid
Keep
- The reference number the operator gave you
- A copy of your complaint, with the date and channel used
- The bills involved
- Your contract or contract summary
- The contract summary you received before signing
- Proof of the cancellation date
Your rights
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Telecom contracts with consumers cannot last more than 24 months.
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Before the contract is automatically extended, the operator must tell you clearly, in time and on a durable medium, that your commitments are ending and how to end the contract, and at the same time give you information on its best tariffs.
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In the law's words, once the contract period ends the contract is automatically extended for the same period, and after that extension you have the right to end it at any time with at most one month's notice, with no cost except the service received during the notice period.
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An early-exit penalty must be proportional to the number of days of the commitment not completed.
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If you keep a device included in the contract when it ends, the charge cannot exceed its prorated value or the remaining service fee until the end of the contract, whichever is lower, and the operator must then remove any lock to other networks for free.
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Adding services or devices with the same operator does not extend your original commitment unless you expressly agree to it when you add them.
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Clauses that impose disproportionate compensation, or obstacles to ending a contract, are abusive.
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In its decision the OAUT can cancel bills, order refunds of amounts billed wrongly and take other measures to restore your rights.
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A minimum-stay commitment does not stop you from cancelling; leaving early cannot be penalised as such, but the operator can claim back the advantages you got for committing.
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The OAUT does not decide claims for damages caused by a faulty service, nor whether a clause is abusive; those go to consumer bodies or the courts.
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If a consumer arbitration board has started a procedure, you cannot use the OAUT unless the request is closed without a decision on the merits or the parties withdraw from arbitration.
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In court claims of up to 2,000 euros you can act yourself, without a lawyer or a procurador.
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