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What it is

Bill to fine companies that pay suppliers late

Admitted step 2 of 7 · Unfinished

It is a members’ bill. Introduced by parliamentary groups, the Senate, regional governments or citizens. It was introduced on 30 September 2016. Introduced by: Grupo Parlamentario Mixto.

Official title: Private member's bill amending Law 3/2004, of 29 December, establishing measures to combat late payment in commercial transactions, in order to regulate a regime of infringements and sanctions.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 122/000033· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The bill would add a new Title II to Law 3/2004, creating a system of infractions and penalties for breaching payment terms and deadlines between companies. It cites an average late-payment period in Spain of 85 days, almost double the European average, and 187 days at IBEX companies.
  2. The bill would classify infractions as minor, serious and very serious. For example, agreeing on payment terms that exclude vacation periods would be minor; exceeding the legal payment deadline by more than 20 days or failing to record the delivery of goods would be serious; and taking advantage of a supplier's economic dependence to impose or systematically breach payment deadlines would be very serious.
  3. Fines would range from up to €6,000 for minor infractions to €30,001 to €900,000 for very serious ones. After a third repeat offense of a very serious infraction, the Autonomous Communities could order the temporary closure of the offending company for up to one year.
  4. Monetary penalties would receive progressive reductions during the first three years: 100% in the first six months, 80% up to one year, 50% in the second year and 20% in the third, provided the company immediately corrects the cause of the infraction. Repeat offenders could not benefit from these reductions.

Who it affects

  • Companies and public administrations that pay suppliers: They could be fined if they breach legal payment deadlines.
  • Small and medium-sized suppliers: They would be the main beneficiaries, protected against late payments.
  • Autonomous Communities (Comunidades Autónomas): They would have the power to inspect and sanction infractions.

Words worth knowing

Morosidad
Late payment or non-payment of debts within the agreed deadline.
Reincidencia (repeat offense)
Committing more than one infraction of the same nature within one year.
Prescripción (statute of limitations)
The maximum period to sanction an infraction or enforce a penalty; after it passes, this is no longer possible.
Proposición de ley
A bill introduced in the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) that still needs to be debated and passed.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 2 of 7 steps. It reached Admitted, and today it is unfinished.

  1. Introduced30 September 2016Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted4 October 2016The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsnot reachedGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeenot reachedA committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenarynot reachedAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senatenot reachedThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEnot reachedIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 6 official steps on a timeline
Dec 2016Dec 2017Dec 201811. 30 September 2016: Presentación22. 4 October 2016: Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales Publicación desde 04/10/2016 hasta 07/10/201633. 4 October 2016: Calificación44. 7 October 2016: Gobierno Contestación desde 07/10/2016 hasta 16/11/201655. 16 November 2016: Pleno Toma en consideración desde 16/11/2016 hasta 05/03/201966. 5 March 2019: Concluido - (Caducado) desde 05/03/2019 hasta 27/03/2019

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

What happens next

What happens now?

The legislature ended before it finished. To go on, someone would have to introduce it again in the new Cortes.

It has not been presented again yet.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

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