Consumer Affairs opens disciplinary proceedings against a bus company for deceptive pricing practices and abusive clauses

The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 has opened a sanctioning file, through the General Directorate of Consumption, against a bus company for transporting passengers by road after having gathered indications that it would be carrying out unfair practices with consumers because it would be indicating the price of its tickets in a misleading way and would apply abusive clauses so as not to return the full amount of canceled trips.

Consumption has detected that this company would not be indicating the complete final price of the tickets, including management costs, which are incorporated in the final phase of contracting. A practice known as "drip pricing" which consists of the company not showing the full price of the ticket during online booking until the customer has entered their data and advanced in the purchasing process, thus hindering their freedom of choice and comparison with the prices of other companies, as specified this Saturday in a statement.

The "drip price", in relation to management expenses, was expressly prohibited thanks to a law promoted by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs itself and approved last year, known as the SAC Law (Customer Service Services), which introduced a modification of article 20.1 c) of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users, indicating that management expenses, if any, are part of the final price of the product or service and must be included from the beginning of a communication. commercial.

This practice would constitute an infraction for misleading advertising according to the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users, as it is considered unfair commercial practices and its sanctions could entail a fine of up to 100,000 euros or reach between four and six times the illicit benefit obtained by the alleged offender, according to the ministry.

Consumption has also detected that the company to which this file has been opened would not be making a full refund of the money that a customer pays for a ticket when a trip cancellation occurs. Specifically, this company would not be refunding to the client the amount for management expenses after a canceled trip, which would mean that the clauses by which this company justifies not returning those expenses would be abusive in accordance with those provided for in articles 83 and 87 of the consolidated text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users.

FINES

This same law classifies the introduction or existence of abusive clauses in contracts as an infraction and its sanctions would entail a fine of up to 1,000,000 euros or reach between six and eight times the illicit benefit obtained, Consumo noted.

The department led by Pablo Bustinduy pointed out that this is the second sanctioning file that Consumption has opened so far this year due to the potential deceptive practice in the indication of prices, after in the summer it initiated a file for this same practice against a company that sells tickets for planes, trains, ferries and also buses, for not indicating the final price of its tickets from the beginning, although the General Directorate of Consumption recalled that the initiation of these files does not prejudge the final result of the sanctioning procedure.