The Spanish government has approved a draft bill designed to improve companies' customer service and reduce waiting time on the telephone line to three minutes, Spain's Consumer Rights Minister Alberto Garzon told a news conference today.
The draft also gives consumers the right to be attended by a person, and not a chatbot, and will force utilities to respond to client complaints within two hours, the minister said.
"The practically infinite waiting times are over," Garzon said.
Companies must inform on incidents related to service supply on a free telephone line for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year and cannot refer customers to paid telephone lines.
Those failing to abide by the law would face fines of between 150 and 10,000 euros and up to 100,000 euros if the problem affects vulnerable consumers or infractions recur.
Association Cex, which represents call centres and other customer-related businesses, did not respond to a request for comment.