Overview
- The lower house approved the Customer Service bill with government allies including Junts, and the text now goes to the Senate while requiring large firms to serve customers in co-official languages where they operate.
- Companies must answer at least 95% of customer calls within three minutes, cannot cut calls due to long waits, must offer a free dedicated helpline, provide a human agent on request with access to a supervisor, and utilities must staff 24/7 service for urgent issues.
- Complaint handling is capped at 15 days with a tracking number and written proof provided, calls recorded until resolution, and supply interruptions explained within two hours with an estimated restoration time.
- Telemarketing rules mandate identifiable call prefixes and carrier blocking of noncompliant calls, ban unsolicited sales calls without consent, void contracts concluded via such calls, and require renewal of user consent every two years.
- Compliance will be policed through external audits, post-interaction satisfaction surveys and fines up to €100,000, while gambling advertising is tightened by banning celebrity or influencer promotions, restricting exposure to age-gated platforms and requiring nominal payment methods.