• The Government has launched new legislation that will force utility companies to attend to customers sooner so they do not have to wait so long on the phone

Surely more than once the power has gone out at home, the internet has dropped, or we have even had a problem with the water supply. And surely, when something like that has happened, we have called and been put on hold or not even answered, causing significant frustration.

Mainly because when we call due to a supply outage or failure, it is usually urgent and we want it to be resolved quickly and effectively. But what we encounter is a never-ending questionnaire, a bot trying to solve our problem and asking nonsense questions, or a succession of departments passing information along without resolving anything for us. Now this is coming to an end.

Thanks to Law 10/2025, promoted by the Government led by Pedro Sánchez, customer service operations will begin to be regulated, and a series of mandatory limits will be imposed on companies when answering the phone. The regulation has already been published in the BOE and sets the maximum deadline as December 28, 2026, for companies to apply the necessary measures and adapt to the new customer service policies.

A LAW THAT FORCES COMPANIES TO ANSWER THE PHONE

This law is primarily aimed at companies that provide basic services of general interest, such as water, gas, and electricity supply and distribution, passenger transport, postal services, electronic communications, and financial services. However, it will also apply to companies that exceed a certain size or number of employees.

Therefore, the new regulation requires companies to answer at least 95% of the calls they receive, on average, within less than three minutes. Furthermore, a call will not be considered answered if the customer cannot explain the reason for their communication or request personalized assistance from an operator.

In other words, starting in December of this year, companies must provide human assistance over the phone to their customers, thereby avoiding the excessive use of automation or bots that fail to resolve doubts adequately or leave the customer without a real answer to their problem.

LIMITS ON BOT USE AND CHANGES TO RESPONSE DEADLINES

This will be implemented through a limit on the use of answering machines, bots, or similar systems. It is not that they are going to disappear, as technology is here to stay, but they must allow consumers to request personalized assistance from the main menu and at any point during the communication. A physical person must handle the call once the consumer requests personalized assistance, and they must even identify themselves at the beginning of the conversation.

Furthermore, response deadlines must change. Queries, complaints, claims, or incidents must generally be resolved within a maximum of 15 business days (meaning weekends or holidays do not count). For basic services provided on a continuous basis, incidents regarding service outages or suspensions must receive a response within two hours, while billing issues or improper charges will have a maximum deadline of five days.

It does not stop there, as the new law also eliminates the possibility of cutting off a call due to excessive wait times and mandates strengthening accessibility for elderly people or people with disabilities. When this is breached, companies may face the penalty system provided for consumer and user protection, in addition to the relevant regional or sector-specific regulations applicable in each case.

Source: NoticiasTrabajo