Buying a bus ticket online and discovering that the price goes up just before you pay it can constitute a misleading commercial practice. The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and the 2030 Agenda, led by Pablo Bustinduy, has opened a sanctioning file against a road passenger transport company after detecting indications that it would be concealing management fees until the final stage of the contracting process. The investigation also examines a second practice: refusing to refund those amounts when a trip is canceled, conduct that could violate consumers’ rights and lead to economic sanctions.
The Directorate General for Consumer Affairs announced the opening of the procedure last Saturday, November 7, after gathering information about how the ticket-selling system of the company works. As the department explains, the investigated company would not show the full price of the trip from the start of the purchase, but would later add certain surcharges once the user has already selected the trip, entered their personal details, and proceeded toward payment. This mechanism, known as "drip pricing", makes it difficult for consumers to compare the fares of different companies and to know how much they will actually have to pay for the journey.
For the time being, Consumer Affairs has not revealed the name of the investigated company and has also not imposed a final sanction. The opening of the file means that there are sufficient indications to begin the procedure, but it will be necessary to determine whether the detected conduct constitutes violations of consumer protection regulations.
What are "drip prices" and why Consumer Affairs considers them misleading
The practice that the ministry is investigating involves advertising an initial price that is lower than the one the traveler ultimately has to pay. For example, a person may find a bus ticket for 20 euros and decide to buy it because it is cheaper than other alternatives. However, when they reach the last screen of the process, they discover that they must pay two or three additional euros in concept of management fees, administration, or processing.
Although the consumer can know the final amount before confirming the payment, Consumo considers that showing surcharges only in the last stages conditions its purchasing decision, since the user has spent time completing the procedure and may be less likely to abandon it in order to compare other offers. In addition, the price initially advertised does not allow for an adequate comparison with the rates of the companies that do include all mandatory costs from the very beginning.
This practice is expressly regulated since the approval of the Ley 10/2025, de Servicios de Atención a la Clientela, which amended article 20.1.c of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users. The rule establishes that companies must inform consumers of the full final price from the first commercial offer, including taxes and any additional mandatory expenses, such as possible management costs.
This means that charging management fees is not illegal by itself. The regulations allow certain costs related to the administration, distribution, or processing of a service to be passed on, provided that they respond to an effective service and that the legal conditions are met. The problem arises when those amounts are mandatory and are not included from the outset in the advertised price, so that the consumer discovers that the trip costs more than it seemed.
The obligation of transparency also does not disappear because companies use different labels. The legislation includes concepts such as administration, distribution, formalization, processing expenses, or service fees, regardless of whether they appear expressed in Spanish or by means of commercial terms such as service feeor booking fee. If the charge must be paid obligatorily in order to purchase the ticket, it must be part of the advertised final price.
Consumo also investigates the refund of management fees when the trip is canceled
The investigation is not limited to the information the passenger receives during the purchase. The ministry has also detected indications that the company under investigation would not be refunding the full amount of the tickets when a leg of the journey is canceled, by retaining the amounts previously charged for management fees.
According to Consumo, the company would use certain contractual clauses to justify that those amounts would not be reimbursed, even when the transport service is not provided. The department considers that these conditions could be abusive under the articles 83 and 87 of the General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users, which regulate the consequences of abusive clauses and the contractual conditions that create unjustified imbalances to the detriment of the customer.
The difference is important because not all cancellations have the same legal consequences. When it is the company that cancels the trip, there may be specific obligations to refund the money or to offer alternative transport. On the other hand, when it is the passenger themselves who decides to voluntarily cancel their booking, the applicable conditions may depend on the fare contracted and the corresponding regulations.
In regular long-distance bus services, especially those whose scheduled distance reaches or exceeds the 250 kilometers, the European Regulation 181/2011 recognizes specific rights when a cancellation occurs. Under certain circumstances, the traveler must be able to choose between recovering the ticket amount or continuing their journey by means of a comparable alternative and without additional costs.
The case file opened by Consumo focuses on the possible improper retention of management expenses when the journey is cancelled, a conduct distinct from the application of cancellation conditions previously communicated to a client who voluntarily gives up the trip.
Fines of up to one million euros for the practices investigated
The possible economic consequences for the company will depend on the infringements that are ultimately proven. The misleading presentation of prices could lead to a fine of up to 100,000 euros or to a penalty equivalent to between four and six times the illicit profit obtained, according to the amounts collected by Consumo in its statement.
The second conduct investigated, related to the introduction of abusive clauses to avoid full refunds of the tickets, could entail a fine of up to one million euros or between six and eight times the illicit profit achieved through that practice.
These amounts represent the sanctions provided for the examined cases, not fines that have already been imposed. The General Directorate of Consumer Affairs must continue the procedure, analyze the evidence, and allow the company to present the allegations it deems appropriate before adopting a resolution.
The ministry has also not publicly identified the company under investigation. Therefore, there is not enough evidence to attribute these practices to a specific bus company or to conclude that all operators apply surcharges in this way.
This is the second case opened this year for hiding expenses in transport tickets
The action against the bus company forms part of a broader monitoring by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs into price transparency when purchasing transport services. In August 2026, the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs opened another sanctioning case against an online ticket-selling platform that marketed flights, trains, ferries, and buses.
In that case, the department detected indications that the platform initially displayed a fare and added a mandatory service fee during the final steps of the booking process. According to the investigation, the additional amount did not depend on a voluntary choice by the consumer, such as contracting an add-on service, but was part of the cost required to complete the purchase.
The two cases therefore respond to the same problem: the difference between the price used to attract the customer’s attention and the amount that is ultimately demanded from them. Consumer Affairs argues that this way of presenting fares can harm both consumers and companies that do show their full prices from the outset.
Regulations do not prevent companies from offering different fares or additional services, but they require that mandatory costs be transparent and that consumers can distinguish them from optional services. This is especially relevant on booking platforms, where small differences in price can influence the choice of a route or operator.
How to file a claim if the price of your bus goes up in the final step of the purchase
The travelers who detect that the amount of a ticket increases when they reach the payment screen can keep evidence of the different stages of the booking process, especially screenshots of the price initially advertised and the final breakdown. This information may be useful to prove that certain mandatory expenses were not communicated from the beginning.
If the ticket has already been purchased, it is advisable to keep the booking confirmation, the payment receipt, and the booking terms. The first step is to contact the company’s or platform’s customer service to request an explanation about the surcharge and, where appropriate, to claim the refund of the amount charged.
If the company does not provide a satisfactory response, the consumer may turn to a Municipal Office for Consumer Information (OMIC), the consumer authorities in their autonomous community, or a consumer association. For purchases made from companies established in other European countries, the European Consumer Centre in Spain can also provide guidance on the mechanisms available.
When the problem is related to a canceled trip, it is recommended to keep the cancellation communication and check what amounts have been refunded. If the carrier has reimbursed only the base price and withheld mandatory management expenses, the passenger may request that this settlement be reviewed, taking into account the circumstances of the cancellation and the applicable rights.
In any case, opening a Consumer file does not mean that all passengers who have paid management fees automatically have the right to recover them. What matters is determining whether those amounts were communicated correctly, whether they corresponded to an effective service, and whether the refund terms complied with the legislation.
The investigation by the department of Pablo Bustinduy puts the focus back on a common practice in certain digital purchasing processes: advertising a rate that appears competitive and adding charges when the user is about to pay. Spanish regulations require that consumers know from the very first moment how much the service will really cost them. Now, Consumer Affairs will have to determine whether the bus company being investigated breached that obligation and whether it retained part of the money from the canceled trips improperly.