A company from Spain has been fined one million euros for an illegal fee imposed on customers.

A car rental company in Spain has been accused by the Consumer Protection Authority for imposing an administrative management fee for fines, ranging between 33.88 and 45 euros, on the bills of customers who committed traffic violations.

It justified the fee by citing processing costs and the communication of the driver's identity to the authorities. The authorities deemed the fee abusive, emphasizing that the Spanish Traffic Law already imposes on the vehicle owner the obligation to identify the driver, thus this cost cannot be passed on to the consumer.

The investigation was initiated by the Basque association EKA/ACUV, which reported that the company continued to charge the fee even after a court declared the clause null in 2020. The company now has the option to contest the one million euro fine imposed by the authorities.