Modification of the Regulation of the Consumer Protection Law No. 24.240 and amendments thereto
On 22 May 2026, Decree 377/2026 was published in the Official Gazette, introducing a structural change in the consumer sanctioning procedure in order to promote the rapid resolution of cases and reduce the judicial burden.
The most relevant changes include the following points:
- Firstly, paragraph c) of Article 45 of Regulatory Decree No. 1798/94 establishes that suppliers who receive a fine sanction from the National Enforcement Authority may pay only half of the fixed amount. For the 50 % reduction to be effective, the offender must simultaneously comply with the following:
- Consent to the sanction: The supplier must accept the resolution without questioning it.
- Peremptory deadline: Payment must be accredited within 10 working days from the notification of the sanctioning provision.
- Waiver of appeal: The benefit expires automatically if, within the same 10-day period, the offender files the direct appeal provided for in Article 45 of Law No. 24.240.
- Legal Limit (Minimum Amount): It is important to highlight that the reduction has a floor: in no case may the final amount to be paid, after applying the discount, be lower than the legal minimum established for fines in Article 47, subsection b) of the Consumer Defence Law.
The reform responds to several strategic objectives such as the unification of criteria to align the national procedure with that of various local jurisdictions and with other internal trade rules (such as Decree 274/2019) that already applied similar incentives and administrative efficiency, which seeks a more agile public management by closing files early.
It also seeks to reduce costs as it aims to reduce administrative and judicial litigation, avoiding excessive costs for both the State and companies in lengthy processes.
Validity: The regulation was signed on 21 May 2026 and came into force on 22 May 2026, following its publication in the Official Gazette.
Related professionals
LATEST FROM #ECIJA
In Mexico, international arbitration has become a common means of resolving complex disputes relating to investments, long-term contracts and strategic projects.
An article by Héctor Sbert, a partner in the litigation and arbitration department at ECIJA Barcelona, in which he analyses the scope of the recent reforms on corporate transparency and their impact on the regime governing shareholdings.
For years, digital evidence has been incorporated into civil and commercial proceedings as a natural extension of documentary evidence. Screenshots, emails, messaging conversations, attachments, recordings, and images have become a standard part of the evidence.
However, artificial intelligence implies that this approach must be reconsidered. Much of this evidence can no longer be treated as mere documents: they are technically vulnerable evidence, the strength of which depends on its origin, integrity, context, and reliability.
The daily disconnection caused by compulsive mobile phone use not only affects personal relationships: it reveals why cybercriminals are exploiting our biases and routines to carry out increasingly sophisticated scams.
ECIJA, represented by Héctor Sbert, Jesús Lorente Ariza and Xavier Miraball, has contributed as the author firm for the chapter on Spain in "Cryptoassets". Law Over Borders Comparative Guide 2026.
On 19 May 2026, María de Mulder Rougvie, counsel in the Litigation and Arbitration department at ECIJA Barcelona, spoke at one of the world’s leading forums on fraud, insolvency, asset recovery and cross-border enforcement (Fraud, Insolvency, Recovery & Enforcement).
The partner of ECIJA Chile participated in panels, working groups and networking activities together with leading figures in Ibero-American arbitration.
The measure unifies the national procedure with that of several local jurisdictions that already applied similar incentives.
The rise of wearable devices has turned the body into a constant source of highly sensitive data, pressing the principles of the GDPR against large-scale, persistent, and difficult-to-understand data processing.
