How will the AOC be financed from 2027 onwards?
Els new AOC Statutes They incorporate a new model of solidarity, proportional and asymmetrical financing: the Generalitat de Catalunya assumes around 80% of the cost and each administration contributes according to its powers, its size and the use it makes of the services.
The Generalitat assumes 80% of the cost
It finances the structure, the country's infrastructure and its own use.
Provincial councils cover the costs associated with 93% of city councils
Municipalities with fewer than 20.000 inhabitants do not make any direct contribution.
The rest of us contribute based on their use.
The rest of the entities assume the marginal direct cost for the use of the services.
Why is the financing model changing?
The AOC is a consortium, a space for collaboration between administrations that share the benefits and costs of common services. The current funding model does not fully reflect this principle.
In 2025, the Generalitat assumed 96% of the AOC's funding, while the local world and other public entities representar 40% of the activity.
Who uses the services?
Government 60%
Local world and other 40%
Who funded them in 2025
Government 96%
Who will finance them from 2027 onwards?
Government, 80%
20%
How the budget is distributed
The AOC's liquidated budget in 2025 was €24,6 million and is divided into three blocks. The first two are assumed by the Generalitat. Only the third, which depends on use, is distributed among all entities.
Government of Catalonia: €20,1 million
Local world and others: €4,5 million
Structural costs, €2,0 million
Country infrastructure and solutions, €11,2 million
Cost of use of the Generalitat, €6,8 million
Cost of use of provincial councils and Localret, €1,9 million
Cost of use of the rest of the entities, €2,6 million
1
Structural costs
What the AOC needs to function as an entity: personnel expenses, organizational services, offices, etc. These are covered by the Generalitat.
2
Cost of country solutions
The common digital infrastructure and country solutions, with their evolution and operation. The Generalitat assumes them as the government of Catalonia.
3
Marginal direct cost of use
This is the additional cost associated with the use of services by each entity. It is what remains after the previous two blocks have been discounted, and is distributed according to use: 60% to the Generalitat, and the remaining 40% between the provincial councils, Localret and the rest of the entities.
Who assumes what?
Generalitat de Catalunya
Structural costs, the infrastructure of country solutions and the use of its departments and dependent entities in accordance with the Public Sector Register of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Provincial governments
Their own use and that of the town councils with less than 20.000 inhabitants in their territory, with the dependent entities. For this reason, 93% of the municipalities do not make any direct contribution to the AOC.
Localret Consortium
Your own use.
County councils
They are exempt from public prices for the work of local accompaniment and support they provide to smaller municipalities.
Other entities
Town councils with more than 20.000 inhabitants, universities, statutory bodies and other public bodies. They pay a public price for the marginal direct cost of what they use, including the activity of their dependent bodies.
The dependent local entities have been identified through the Register of the local public sector of Catalonia (Municat).
How does each entity pay?
Consortium entities: transfers
The Generalitat, Localret and the four provincial councils finance the AOC through transfers, which are adjusted with the annual settlement of contributions.
- Generalitat: €20,1 million, for structural costs, infrastructure and its use.
- Provincial Councils and Localret: €1,9 million in total, for their use and that of town councils with less than 20.000 inhabitants.
Other entities: public prices
Town councils with more than 20.000 inhabitants, universities, statutory bodies and other public bodies pay a public price for what they use.
- Forecast for 2027: €2,6 million overall.
- A single annual payment, with the corresponding VAT.
The public price is not equivalent to a market price. It only covers the additional expense generated by the use of a service by a specific entity, once the Generalitat has assumed the common structure and infrastructure.
The new financing model replaces current public prices of the digital certification service (T-CAT) and ofHèstia, and it is more efficient because it involves a single annual invoice per administration, including its dependent entities and for all uses of AOC services.
The public price in detail
The public price only applies to entities that are not part of the AOC: municipalities with more than 20.000 inhabitants, universities, statutory entities and other public entities. It covers the marginal direct cost of the services they use and is calculated for each entity with two components.
Public price
=
Fixed cost of the strip
+
Unit cost of the band x entity transactions
The entity is placed in the band that corresponds to its annual number of transactions. The bands take into account that large entities make intensive use of support, accompaniment and integrations, and small entities make low use. The unit cost decreases as the volume increases, due to economies of scale.
Fixed cost and unit cost per transaction and band
| Band (transactions per year) | Fixed cost of the strip | Unit cost per transaction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without VAT | With VAT | Without VAT | With VAT | |
| De 0 a 999 | 41 € | 50 € | 0,0826 € | 0,100 € |
| De 1.000 a 4.999 | 413 € | 500 € | 0,0620 € | 0,075 € |
| De 5.000 a 24.999 | 2.066 € | 2.500 € | 0,0537 € | 0,065 € |
| De 25.000 a 124.999 | 8.264 € | 10.000 € | 0,0413 € | 0,050 € |
| De 125.000 a 749.999 | 10.331 € | 12.500 € | 0,0331 € | 0,040 € |
| De 750.000 a 2.999.999 | 14.463 € | 17.500 € | 0,0207 € | 0,025 € |
| De 3.000.000 a 14.999.999 | 16.529 € | 20.000 € | 0,0107 € | 0,013 € |
| 15.000.000 or more | 24.793 € | 30.000 € | 0,0107 € | 0,013 € |
What does the fixed cost include?
It covers the costs of provision, provision, support and accompaniment that do not grow proportionally with the volume of use.
Support
Registration of the entity and its members representants, service configuration, queries and incidents.
Integrations
Technical assistance to connect the entity's systems with AOC services.
Accompaniment and stimulation
Advice, conferences and workshops, directly or through the provincial councils and regional councils.
Communication
Dissemination of news and incidents regarding services.
Specific services from the local world and other entities
Maintenance and operation of local solutions that are not cross-country.
Innovation
Proof of concept, pilots and initial deployment of new solutions.
Other services
Indicators, reports, open data and content from the AOC website.
What does variable cost include?
Covers all costs in business transactions: platform operation, management and technological services associated with the use of services: infrastructure, computing, communications, storage, backups, security, maintenance and evolution of services. The more transactions, documents or data, the more cost.
What AOC services are included in the activity?
All AOC services that involve a business transaction are counted as activities. The main ones, with the indicator used to measure them, are as follows:
- Via Oberta: Number of interoperability queries
- Save it: Number of electronic documents kept in the repository
- Enotum: Number of electronic notifications
- VàLid: Number of authentications and digital signatures
- Efact: Number of electronic invoices
- Other services: digital identity, Mux, recruitment, Eacat, Etram, Còpia, Representa, Etauler, Alerts Channel, etc.
What is the public price for your entity?
The amount that corresponds to each entity depends on its powers, its size and the use it makes of the services.
The new model will come into effect on January 1, 2027. The public price will be settled in a single invoice at the end of the year. The variable cost will be calculated on the activity from January 1 to October 31, 2027; the activity from November and December 2027 will be included in the invoice for the following year.
This calendar allows you to calculate the activity actually carried out, share the details with user entities and process the issuance and collection of the invoice within the same budget year.
How much does each transaction cost for AOC services?
The AOC budget supports a catalogue of around thirty common services that make the relationship between administrations, citizens and businesses work. Divided among all the activities they manage, the cost is very low.
23,3 M€
AOC budget 2026
÷
1.000 M
business transactions and operations
in 2026 (estimate)
=
2,5 cents
of euros for business transaction and operation
Catalonia's common digital services model is very efficient: it is based on trust, collaboration, common services and economies of scale. This means that all Catalan administrations make very intensive use of it, with around 3 million business transactions every day.
The Catalan administration is a leader in digitalization in the State and the cost per transaction is lower than what the individualized provision of these services would have.
* Note:
- Business transactions include interoperability queries, notifications, procedures, invoices, tenders, authentications, etc.
- Operations include activities to support business transactions: certificate and signature validations, time stamping, sending SMS and Whatsapp messages, etc.
Using AOC services generates savings
The use of the AOC's digital services generates significant savings, both financial and time-wise, for citizens, companies and administrations.
These are savings calculated with an objective and verifiable methodology, verified by Ivàlua (Catalan Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies) and by PROAVA, the Generalitat's public policy evaluation program.
744 M€
of annual savings for using AOC services
x 30
return on investment
every euro of the AOC budget generates 30 euros in savings
Doubts and inquiries
Information session: criteria, impact and contributions
Open to all administrations that use AOC services. They will participate representants of the Localret Consortium, the provincial governments and the AOC.
Quan
November 2, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m
On
Palau Macaya, Passeig de Sant Joan, 108, Barcelona
With
In person, with limited places, and online for AOC YouTube channel
Frequently asked questions
My municipality has fewer than 20.000 inhabitants. Do I need to do anything?
No. The provincial government assumes the cost of using your town hall and the entities that depend on it. You can continue to use the AOC services as before.
Is the public price the market price of services?
No. It only covers the marginal direct cost generated by the use of the services. The resulting amounts are lower than what it would cost to acquire equivalent solutions on the market.
When does it start and how is it paid?
The new model comes into force on January 1, 2027. The consortium entities make contributions, and the rest of the entities pay the public price plus VAT in a single annual payment.
Why can two entities of similar size pay different amounts?
Because the amount combines the entity's range of activity with the transactions it actually makes. Two entities with similar populations can make very different use of services.
Who pays for the new common services that are developed?
New common services for the local world are outside this model. They will be financed by the entity or entities promoting the initiative and the beneficiary entities, according to population, use or budget criteria.
Can the amounts change?
The public price proposal and the new Statutes are still being processed. Once approved, the governing bodies of the AOC Consortium can update the amounts when they deem it appropriate.
Open Administration Consortium of Catalonia
The figures are based on the report of the new financing model drawn up from the 2025 liquidated budget.