The Ministry of Consumption has targeted the bad practices of some low-cost airlines. If last week it announced the opening of a disciplinary file against several airlines for the collection of hand luggage and other extra costs, the department that Alberto Garzón still commands announced this Tuesday that it has initiated the first files against several of these companies for not having a free customer service telephone number or, even if it exists, it is difficult to access.
According to the Ministry, which has not revealed the names of the punished companies, this implies a breach of legal obligations regarding customer services. The sanctions provided for these infractions could range between 150 and 10,000 euros if they are considered minor and between 10,001 and 100,000 if they are classified as serious.
The current regulations on these telephones oblige companies to make customer service numbers accessible to all consumers and to be free (geographical or special rate numbers, for example, are not valid). The free phones are those that begin with the prefixes 800 or 900, called ‘automatic collect services’.
Air transport, being considered a basic service of general interest, forces companies in the sector to have a free customer service telephone number. This rule came into force after the modification made this legislature of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users, with the aim of providing protection to vulnerable consumers.
From Consumption they point out that, if the illegal benefit obtained by the infringing practices exceeds the maximum amounts stipulated in the fines, the sanctions could reach between two and four times the illegal benefit obtained for minor infractions and between four and six times the illegal benefit obtained for the serious
With this decision, Consumption estimates the continuous complaints that have been pouring out from consumer organizations for years. Last week, the Ministry announced the opening of a disciplinary file against several companies -Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea- for charging extra costs for hand luggage carried in the cabin, a decision that adds to recent investigations into companies promoting music festivals for preventing access to concert venues with food and drink.
