The company automatically added a charge ranging from €33.88 to €45 to consumers’ invoices, labelled as “administrative management of fines”, whenever a driver committed a traffic violation while using one of its vehicles, justifying the fee based on processing costs and the expense of communicating the offender’s identity to the authorities.

The Spanish consumer authority concluded that this charge constituted an unfair contract term, given that Article 11 of Spain’s Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Circulation and Road Safety already establishes a legal obligation for the vehicle owner to identify the driver in the event of an infraction, thereby precluding the passing of this cost on to the consumer.

The practice violated the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users by imposing a disproportionate cost that favoured the company to the detriment of the customer.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by the Basque consumer association EKA/ACUV. It revealed that Avis continued to apply this fee even after a court in Vitoria-Gasteiz declared the clause null and void in September 2020. The continued use of the illegal clause led consumer authorities to classify the violation as aggravated. With the administrative proceedings now concluded, Avis can appeal the €1 million fine in court.