Spain orders fines over DeCA technical failures between 5 and 19 October to be dropped

Since 5 October, the Documento de Control Electrónico de Acarreo (DeCA) and the electronic waybill (HeRU) have been mandatory in digital form in Spain, including for hauliers doing cabotage from Portugal. In the first two weeks, the Fenadismer federation reported fines above €400 issued to drivers who had the document and its QR code, but whose roadside check could not verify it — a technical failure in the repository, not a breach by the haulier, according to the federation.

What the Ministry decided

Spain’s Directorate-General for Road and Rail Transport instructed the regional governments — which handle the cases opened from Guardia Civil reports — to drop the fines filed between 5 and 19 October whose only stated reason is the technical impossibility of downloading the DeCA or checking the documentation, according to nexotrans. No instruction number or official gazette publication has been released — this is an internal order to the regions, confirmed by several trade outlets following Fenadismer’s complaint.

The measure does not cover other documentary breaches: if mandatory data is missing from the DeCA itself, or the breach is unrelated to the identified technical issue, the normal sanctioning procedure still applies.

What to do if you were fined

Fenadismer recommends checking, for each fine notice received between 5 and 19 October:

• if the reason the officer recorded is the impossibility of accessing or verifying the DeCA — in that case the fine should be dropped by the regional government with no appeal needed;
• if the reason is some other documentary breach — the instruction does not apply, and the federation offers legal support to its members to appeal fines they consider unfair.

Anyone hauling goods in Spain, including cabotage from Portugal, should keep proof that the DeCA was issued and accessible at the time of the check — the problem identified was on the electronic repository’s side, not with the document itself.