Agency says legal challenge and uncertain circular limit ability to enforce temporary transport tariffs

Ingeniero Jaime Alafuente González, president of the transport negotiado, told the Senate Commission on Innovation, Communications, Urbanism and Infrastructure on June 4 that enforcement of tariff changes has been hampered by an ongoing legal dispute and by structural limits on collection.

"La carta circular está impugnada," Alafuente said, noting that the temporary tariffs published Dec. 23, 2020 (effective Dec. 24) remain in legal limbo while the agency continues to develop a permanent reglamento and await the Junta de Control Fiscal's comments. He said he planned to file in the Tribunal Supremo and to remit the reglamento to the Junta la próxima semana for formal review.

The negotiado has issued fines in field inspections, Alafuente said, but collecting those sanctions has proven difficult when businesses refuse to pay and the only practical remedy for some entities is to pursue recovery in court. "Es un proceso más largo" and costly, he said, describing cases that require judicial collection rather than administrative offsets.

Alafuente told senators the agency records a roughly 46 percent collection rate on fines issued in recent periods and has documentary evidence of fiscalizaciones and multas despite staff limits. He also said some businesses publicly stated they would not pay the negociado's fees, and that the agency has continued to process querellas and celebrar vistas públicas since reactivating work after pandemic pauses.

Senators pressed on who had challenged the temporary tariffs; a panel speaker identified the demandante as the Cámara Comercial. The agency emphasized it had tried to incorporate feedback from stakeholders (transportistas, gremios, comercio) during translation and revision of the reglamento but that the carta circular's impugnation created an "área gris" that some market actors use to withhold payment.

To strengthen collection, the negotiado is pursuing IT integrations with Obras Públicas so that multas could be incorporated into public works systems and is discussing with Hacienda routes to surface debts linked to businesses' accounts. Alafuente said those integrations are under development and could arrive in the coming months.

The commission requested that the agency deliver the drafted reglamento in both Spanish and English and supply lists of querellas processed during the last two years. Alafuente agreed to provide those documents within the time set by the commission.

The hearing concluded with senators urging stronger enforcement tools and asking the agency to propose specific measures — from increased inspector capacity to changes in administrative penalties — that could reduce the perception of impunity among operators who challenge the rules.