Customer service law: calls answered in less than three minutes

Companies providing basic services of general interest and large companies must answer, on average, 95% of calls to their customer service lines in less than three minutes. This is established by Law 10/2025, of 26 December, regulating customer service, approved by the Cortes Generales, sanctioned by King Felipe VI and published in the «Official State Gazette» («BOE») No. 312, of 27 December 2025. The regulation, in force since 28 December, also prohibits hanging up on the customer due to waiting time and routing toll-free numbers to premium-rate numbers.

The law, a Government initiative registered in the Congress of Deputies on 29 February 2024, was approved by the Plenary of the House on 13 November 2025 and by the Senate on 3 December, with final approval on 11 December. It is issued under Article 51 of the Spanish Constitution and in line with the New Consumer Agenda of the European Commission (13 November 2020), and raises the requirements of Article 21 of the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users (Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007).

Companies providing basic services of general interest and large companies or groups of companies are obliged. For the latter, the threshold is set at 250 workers, EUR 50 million in annual turnover or EUR 43 million in annual balance sheet total. The regulation grants six months from its entry into force for adaptation, until 28 June 2026.

Three minutes for 95% of calls

Article 10 establishes the telephone service regime: 95% of calls received must be effectively answered, on average, within less than three minutes. A call is not considered answered if it does not allow the caller to state the reason for the communication and request personalised attention from an operator, who must identify themselves at the start of the conversation. The same parameter applies to personalised attention requested from the telephone menu, which may also not be reduced to an answering machine as the sole means.

In addition, companies may not cut off a communication because of a long waiting time. If the customer is not satisfied, they may request that the call be transferred to a supervisor or to a quality department, with a response during that same communication or, at the latest, within the same business day.

Prohibitions and guarantees

• Hanging up on the customer due to excessive waiting time.
• Diverting a toll-free telephone number to numbers that involve a cost for the customer, by call, text message or other analogous means.
• Charging for customer service a cost higher than that of a call to a standard geographic landline or mobile line.
• Basic service providers must, in any case, offer a free customer service telephone number.
• Companies must accept the same channel through which the contractual relationship was initiated, in addition to postal, telephone and electronic channels.

Priority attention for vulnerable people

The law pays special attention to vulnerable consumers. Elderly people (65 years of age or older) or people with disabilities will receive priority attention on the telephone channel, and people with hearing disabilities may choose between instant written messaging via mobile application or sign language video interpretation; when a vulnerable person files a complaint in person, the company must provide them with individualized assistance.

Supervision and sanctioning regime

Failure to comply with the obligations constitutes an infringement in the field of protection of the rights and interests of consumers and users, sanctioned in accordance with the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users and with regional legislation. In the financial sector, supervision remains with the sectoral supervisors: the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission and the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds. The law also amends Law 3/1991, on Unfair Competition, Law 44/2002, on reform of the financial system, Law 11/2022, General Telecommunications Law, and Organic Law 3/2018, on Data Protection.

For citizens, the rule converts into a legal obligation what until now was a constant source of complaints: reasonable waiting times, personal attention and free channels in everyday services, from electricity and water to banking, transport and telephony. With the annual audit of quality systems and the sanctioning regime, companies are placed under a verifiable framework of requirements as of the end of June 2026.

Source: «Boletín Oficial del Estado», No. 312, of 27 December 2025 (official reference: Law 10/2025, of 26 December, regulating customer service).