How Positive Administrative Silence Works for Public Utilities and Leases in Colombia

Few sensations are as frustrating in Colombia as receiving an invoice with disproportionate charges, filing a well-founded claim with photos and previous receipts, and waiting entire weeks without receiving any official response from the utility provider. The good news is that Colombian legislation strongly protects the user against the operational negligence of public utility service providers (ESP).

Through the mechanism of Positive Administrative Silence (SAP), if the company does not resolve and formally notify you of your petition, complaint, or appeal (PQR) within the strict legal deadline, the law presumes that your claims were approved in their entirety. However, there is widespread confusion when this problem crosses into the realm of renting: many people mistakenly believe that if the landlord or the real estate agency does not answer a letter, this automatic victory also applies.

Quick answer: what is positive administrative silence and when does it apply

Positive Administrative Silence is a legal presumption whereby the inaction of an entity with public functions for a specific period of time grants, by full legal right, what was requested by the citizen. Under the public utility service regime in Colombia, it operates under the following fundamental rules:

• The strict deadline: Companies have exactly 15 business days to resolve and notify the substantive decision of a PQR, counted from the business day following the filing.
• Automatic effect: Once the term has expired without effective legal notification, the claim is understood to be decided in favor of the subscriber or user by operation of law.
• Acknowledgement period: The provider company has 72 business hours following the expiration to make the effects of the request effective (for example, voiding charges, reissuing the invoice, or restoring service).
• No notarial procedures: Unlike other public administration procedures, for public services it is not required to elevate the process to a public deed in a notary's office to demand compliance.
• Contractual limit: This mechanism does not exist in private rental contracts between individuals (regulated by Law 820 of 2003). If the landlord does not respond to your requests, it is a civil dispute, not an administrative silence.

The legal deadline: how to count exactly 15 business days

The technical pillar of positive administrative silence rests on Article 158 of Law 142 of 1994, modified directly by Article 123 of Decree-Law 2150 of 1995 (known as the Anti-Red Tape Statute). The regulation indicates that the public utility company must respond to petitions, complaints, and appeals within 15 business days following their submission.

To calculate this period without making mistakes that invalidate your claim, you must rigorously apply the following rules of Colombian administrative law:

1. Start of the count: The term begins to run on the business day following the date of official filing (whether physical with a date stamp or digital with an alphanumeric code generated by the ESP's system).
2. Strict business days: Saturdays, Sundays, and official holidays recognized by the Colombian civil calendar (Emiliani Law) are not counted.
3. Joint resolution and notification: It is not enough for the company to draft the internal letter or sign it digitally on day 15. The law requires that the administrative act of response be effectively notified to the user within the legal deadline. If the company issues the response on day 14 but the postal operator or the notification email reaches the user on day 16, the positive administrative silence has already been triggered irreversibly.

The critical 72 hours and the myth of notarial protocolization

Once 15 business days have passed without the company having legally notified you of its decision, the second window established in Article 123 of Decree-Law 2150 of 1995 is activated: the provider has an unextendable term of seventy-two (72) business hours to give effect to the positive silence.

During this period, the company must issue a formal act of recognition and perform your requested claims ex officio: annul the disputed amount, recalculate consumption according to actual averages, or resume supply at no cost. If the company sends an late response after day 15 denying your complaint, such communication lacks any legal value; the Constitutional Court and the Council of State have peacefully reiterated that a company cannot unilaterally revoke a constructive administrative act favorable to the citizen.

Furthermore, the myth persists on the street that to enforce administrative silence, one must go to a notary to formalize copies of the claim in a public deed with high notarial costs. This is false regarding public utility services. Although the Code of Administrative Procedure and Administrative Litigation (CPACA, Law 1437 of 2011) contemplates notarial protocolization for certain ordinary administration procedures (Articles 84 and 85), the special regime for public services enshrined in Decree-Law 2150 of 1995 expressly eliminated that burden for users, allowing them to go directly to the oversight authority.

Step-by-step to file the investigation for SAP before the Superservicios

When the provider company ignores the expiration of the 15 business days and the 72 subsequent hours, you should not argue with the advisors at the commercial office. The formal path is to file a request for investigation due to Positive Administrative Silence before the Superintendency of Residential Public Services (Superservicios).

The procedure is carried out primarily through digital channels:

1. Accessing the platform: Access the official Superservicios user support portal called Te Resuelvo (teresuelvo.superservicios.gov.co).
2. Provider and account identification: Register your personal data, the name of the provider company (energy, water, sewage, waste management, or natural gas), and the account number or user code that appears on the invoice.
3. Uploading documentary evidence: Attach a legible copy of the original PQR filing showing the date of receipt by the company and the requested facts.
4. Declaration of non-notification: Declare under oath that, having exceeded the legal deadline of 15 business days plus 72 hours, the provider did not notify you of any pronouncement nor did they execute what was claimed.

The Superservicios will open a sanctioning administrative investigation against the company. If it verifies that the deadline has passed, it will order the provider to immediately recognize the positive silence and strictly comply with your claims, under warning of severe institutional fines based on Article 81 of Law 142 of 1994. If you require physical filing in Bogotá, the main Superservicios service office is located at Carrera 18 # 84-35.

The legal myth: does administrative silence apply to rental contracts?

A recurring conceptual error among tenants and landlords is believing that administrative silence protects letters sent between parties in an urban housing contract. For example: "I sent a right of petition to the real estate agency notifying them that I was returning the apartment at the end of the month, they didn't answer me in 15 days, so my delivery was accepted by positive silence". This statement is completely incorrect and lacks legal basis.

The urban housing lease contract is a private agreement governed by civil law and Law 820 of 2003. In contractual relationships between private individuals, there are no administrative acts, no public powers, and no fictitious positive administrative silences unless the contract contains an express clause of tacit approval agreed upon by both parties. If the landlord or the real estate agency does not respond to your communications, what exists is an eventual disagreement or breach of contract that must be resolved through mediation centers, civil courts, or complaints to the housing control sub-directorates of the corresponding mayor's office, but never a declaration of positive administrative silence. If the contract does contain draconian clauses, part of what Law 820 prohibits in abusive clauses.

Rents and cross-utility services: who can file a claim

The real intersection between rents and public utilities occurs when invoices with abusive charges are generated for a rented property. Both the owner (subscriber) and the tenant (service user) have legal standing to file petitions, complaints, and appeals before the ESP (Public Service Company) under Law 142 of 1994. Therefore, if the tenant files a formal complaint for a significant deviation in consumption or undue charges, the 15-business-day countdown for positive silence runs with the same legal rigor.

To protect the contractual relationship during a dispute, keep two practical considerations in mind:

• Prohibition of service cut-off for disputed values: While the claim is being formally processed before the company or the Superservicios, the provider is prohibited from suspending the service for the items under discussion, as long as the usual undisputed consumption is paid. If they charged you for reconnection, check the public utility reconnection fee rules.
• Public utility guarantees: In accordance with Articles 15 and 16 of Law 820 of 2003, the landlord may require the tenant to establish guarantees or deposits to support the timely payment of public utilities and break the joint liability towards the service provider when the contract ends. Learn more about this process in the guide on public utility guarantees in the lease contract.

In the Colombian real estate market, clarity between tenants and owners prevents prolonged litigation. According to active listings on Colombia Move (September 2026), there are 156 active housing listings and 67 recent ones, with more than 30,800 demand views in that section. If you are looking to rent out or list a property directly and transparently, having agreements without fine print makes a difference in your financial peace of mind.

Letter template to demand compliance with positive silence

If 15 business days have already passed since the filing of your complaint with the public utility company and you have not received any valid notification, you can file the following request for formal recognition of the effects of positive administrative silence:

Frequently Asked Questions

❓ How many days exactly does a public utility company in Colombia have to respond to a claim?

The company has exactly 15 business days starting from the business day following the filing of the PQR. In this legal count, effective in 2026, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are excluded.

❓ What happens if the company responds on the 16th or 17th day saying that my claim was rejected?

That response is legally untimely and has no legal validity regarding the claim. Positive administrative silence, effective in 2026, operates by operation of law upon reaching the 15th business day, consolidating an acquired right that the company cannot subsequently ignore.

❓ Must I go to a notary to elevate the administrative silence to a public deed for it to be valid?

No, under the Colombian public utility regime, a public deed is not required. Article 123 of Decree Law 2150 of 1995, effective in 2026, expressly eliminated that burden, allowing compliance to be demanded directly before the company or the Superservicios.

❓ If my landlord or the real estate agency does not answer a right of petition in 15 days, does positive silence apply?

No, positive administrative silence never applies in lease contractual relationships between private individuals under Law 820 of 2003. The lack of response from an owner or real estate agency, according to that rule effective in 2026, constitutes a civil dispute that must be handled before mediation centers or judges of the republic.

❓ What documents do I need to file the complaint with the Superservicios on the Te Resuelvo platform?

You must attach a copy of the initial PQR filing with a legible date. Also, include the account number or user code and a statement that you were not notified within 15 business days, in accordance with the regulations in force in 2026.

❓ Can the company cut off my service while the positive administrative silence is being defined?

No, the company cannot suspend the service if you are up to date with regular, undisputed charges. Law 142, in force in 2026, prohibits cutting off the supply for amounts that are formally challenged or subject to an ongoing claim.