Minimum-term clauses (permanencia) and leaving a phone or internet contract

Key rules

• Maximum lock-in: A permanencia on a consumer phone contract can last at most 12 months, and you must be offered a contract without one.
• Price rise: The operator must give one month's notice of a price rise, and you can leave without a permanencia penalty during that notice.
• Phone instalments: Cancelling the service does not cancel the phone financing, so you still owe the remaining instalments.
• Penalty size: A penalty must be proportionate to the benefit you received and should shrink over time.

How long can an operator lock you in?

A permanencia clause can last at most 12 months on a consumer contract. The operator must also offer you a version without one. Ask for both and compare the prices before you choose.

A lock-in is only allowed if you get something real in return, such as a discount or a subsidy. The penalty for leaving early must be proportionate to that benefit. It cannot be more than what you received, and it should shrink as the months pass.

The contract must state the length and the penalty clearly. If you cannot find them, ask the operator to show you the clause in writing.

Leaving after a price rise

You can leave without a permanencia penalty if the operator raises your price or changes your conditions. The operator must give one month's notice, and you can leave during that notice. Read the notice itself, because it states the exact deadline for leaving.

Some changes do not give you this right:

• changes that benefit you
• changes the law imposes
• price updates you clearly agreed to in the contract, such as an inflation-linked increase

Check your contract for an update clause before you count on this exit.

Handset financing is a separate debt

If you bought a phone with the contract, you usually pay for it in separate instalments, often 12 to 36 months. They appear as their own line, apart from the service price.

Cancelling the service does not cancel the financing. When you leave, you normally owe the remaining instalments. You can pay them all at once or keep paying on the original schedule. If a permanencia penalty applies, you pay that too. Leaving after a price rise removes the permanencia penalty only, so the instalments stay payable.

If you stop paying, the operator can chase the debt. You could also end up on a solvency file, which makes credit harder to get.

Before you sign, compare the total cost of phone plus service with buying the phone outright. A financed phone may carry no interest but a higher price.

If the operator will not let you leave

1. Complain to the operator's customer service first, and keep a copy.
2. Wait one month for a reply.
3. If there is no reply, or the reply does not help, take the claim to the telecom complaints office (the OAUT). Do this within three months of the reply or of the end of that month.

You can file online with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or on paper. Larger operators must also belong to an out-of-court dispute body. Consumer offices and the courts remain options.

The timeline, the documents list and the checklist below walk you through these steps.

Choosing between options

How should you leave a phone or internet contract that locks you in?

• Leave because of a price rise: The operator has announced a price rise or a change of conditions that does not benefit you. Leave during the notice period and you pay no permanencia penalty, but phone instalments stay payable.

• Leave early and pay: There is no price rise and you cannot wait. You pay any permanencia penalty, which should be in proportion to the benefit you received and shrink over time, plus the remaining phone instalments.

• Wait for the commitment to end: The lock-in or the phone instalments finish soon. Leaving then costs you no penalty.

• Complain first: You think the penalty is too high or the operator ignores your request. Complain to the operator, then to the telecom complaints office if there is no reply within one month.

If a price rise or change of conditions that does not benefit you is announced, leave within the notice period without a penalty. Otherwise compare the penalty plus remaining instalments with the cost of waiting.

Timeline and deadlines

• Check the length of any minimum term and of the phone instalments in your contract: before you sign or before you try to leave

• Leave without a permanencia penalty if the operator announces a price rise or changes your conditions: during the one month's notice the operator must give, or within the period its notice sets

• Pay the remaining phone instalments, at once or on the original schedule: when you leave, since the financing runs for its own 12 to 36 months

• Complain to the operator's customer service: first, before going to any authority

• Wait for the operator's reply: up to one month

• File your claim with the telecom complaints office: within three months of the operator's reply or of the end of the one-month wait

Documents you need

• Your service contract, showing the permanencia clause with its length and the penalty for leaving early

• The handset financing agreement, showing the number of instalments and the amount still owed, if you bought a phone with the contract

• The operator's notice of a price rise or change of conditions, which shows the notice period and the deadline to leave

• Your complaint to the operator and its reply, or proof that a month passed without one, needed if you take the dispute to the telecom complaints office

What to check before signing a mobile contract

• Ask for the offer without a minimum term (permanencia) and compare its price with the one that locks you in. A lock-in can last at most 12 months.

• Find the permanencia clause and check that it states the length and the exact penalty for leaving early.

• Check what you get in return for the lock-in, such as a discount or a subsidy. The penalty should shrink as time passes and should not be bigger than that benefit.

• Look for any price-change clause. Check whether the price can be updated automatically, for example with inflation.

• Plan to leave without a penalty if the operator announces a price rise. It must give one month's notice, so diary the deadline in its message.

• Find the handset line in the contract. Note the number of instalments, usually 12 to 36 months, and the price of the phone separate from the service.

• Work out the total cost of the phone plus the service, and compare it with buying the phone outright. Financed phones can have inflated prices.

• Check what you would owe on exit: remaining phone instalments, plus any penalty.

• Check how you can cancel. Ask for a way that leaves proof, such as email, your online customer area or burofax (a registered letter), and keep the reference number.

• Decide if you want to keep your number. If so, ask the new operator to port it instead of cancelling, because cancelling alone loses the number.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I complain if my operator does not solve a problem?

You can complain to the Oficina de Atención al Usuario de Telecomunicaciones (OAUT), a telecom complaints office run by the Ministry for Digital Transformation. First complain to the operator's customer service. Go to OAUT if the operator does not reply within one month or the reply does not solve it.

How long do I have to take my complaint to the telecom complaints office?

You have three months to file with the telecom complaints office, counted from the operator's reply or from the end of the one-month wait. You can file online with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or on paper. Consumer offices and the courts also remain open to you.

What happens if I stop paying my phone instalments?

If you stop paying phone instalments, the operator can claim the debt and may list you on a solvency file, which is a register of unpaid debts. The phone debt is separate from the service, so cancelling the service does not stop it. Contact the operator about the payment schedule before you miss a payment.

Can I leave without penalty if the price rises because of an inflation clause?

Not always, because a price update clearly agreed in the contract, such as an inflation-linked one, is an exception to the penalty-free exit. The same goes for changes that benefit you and changes imposed by regulation. Read the price clause in your contract to see which kind of rise you have.