In short
The passenger-transport section of the Civil Code of 2020 has two articles. Article 1395 places two obligations on the carrier: move the passenger with their luggage by the agreed means, at the agreed time and to the agreed destination; and guarantee the passenger’s safety during the journey, the boarding and the disembarking. That second one deserves slow reading, because safety is not limited to the trip: the text expressly names boarding and disembarking. Article 1396 places six on the passenger: pay the agreed price for the movement; prepare their luggage in accordance with the regulations and instructions received from the carrier and limit it to the agreed tariffs; present themselves at the place and moment the movement is to begin, according to what was agreed and the applicable regulations; behave in an orderly manner and obey the carrier’s instructions; inform the carrier of the extraordinary value of their luggage or part of it; and have control and care of their hand luggage. Two things from that list are worth keeping: extraordinary luggage value must be declared, and hand luggage stays under the passenger’s own control and care. A scope warning that comes from the chapter itself: these rules do not apply to specially regulated transport and, in every case, operate as suppletory. The Code does not say which transport that is, and this guide does not guess.
What is it?
They are Articles 1395 and 1396 of the Civil Code of 2020: the carrier’s two obligations and the passenger’s six in the carriage of persons.
Who can do it?
Passengers and carriers under a contract for the carriage of persons governed by the Puerto Rico Civil Code, where the transport is not specially regulated.
Requirements
- From the carrier: move the passenger with their luggage by the agreed means, at the agreed time and to the agreed destination.Verified against the official source
- From the carrier: guarantee the passenger’s safety during the journey, the boarding and the disembarking.Verified against the official source
- From the passenger: pay the price, prepare the luggage according to the regulations and instructions and limit it to the agreed tariffs.Verified against the official source
- From the passenger: inform the carrier of the extraordinary value of their luggage or part of it, and have control and care of their hand luggage.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The carrier’s first duty: taking you, and your luggage
Article 1395(a): move the passenger with their luggage by the agreed means, at the agreed time and to the agreed destination. The luggage is named alongside the passenger in the same obligation.
Step 2: Safety, and how far it reaches
Subsection (b): guarantee the passenger’s safety during the journey, the boarding and the disembarking. The two moments when most people are injured — getting on and off — are written into the text.
Step 3: What the passenger owes: paying and showing up
Article 1396(a) and (c): pay the agreed price for the movement, and present themselves at the place and moment the movement is to begin, according to what was agreed and the applicable regulations.
Step 4: The luggage, per regulations and instructions
Subsection (b): prepare their luggage in accordance with the regulations and instructions received from the carrier and limit it to the agreed tariffs. The article refers to those regulations and instructions without reproducing them, and neither does this guide.
Step 5: Orderly conduct and instructions
Subsection (d): behave in an orderly manner and obey the carrier’s instructions. The article does not say what happens if this is not met, and this guide does not fill it in.
Step 6: If your luggage is worth a lot, say so
Subsection (e): inform the carrier of the extraordinary value of their luggage or part of it. It is a passenger obligation, and it helps to have a record of having met it.
Step 7: Hand luggage is yours
Subsection (f): have control and care of their hand luggage. The Code puts it on the passenger’s side, and does not say the carrier answers for it on the same terms as for the rest.
Step 8: What these articles do not carry
There is no liability cap for lost or damaged luggage, no compensation amount, no claiming period, and no rules on fares, refunds, passenger delays or overbooking. None of that is here, and this guide does not invent it.
Step 9: And the scope reminder
The chapter says of itself that its rules do not apply to specially regulated transport and that, in every case, they operate as suppletory. If your trip falls under its own regulation, that governs; the Code does not say which it is, and this guide does not point to one.
Where to do it
The contract runs between passenger and carrier; the Code names no agency for this chapter. If the service is specially regulated, the forum and rules are that regulation’s, with separate guides on this site. Contract or damage claims are decided by the Court of First Instance.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your trip was on a service with its own regulation, this chapter yields to it under Article 1391, and several of those subjects have their own guides here. If what you carried was cargo rather than passenger luggage, see the general transport guide. If you were in a traffic accident, there are separate guides on those claims. These articles fix no cap or amount for luggage, give no claiming period, and do not regulate fares, delays, refunds or overbooking. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing passenger safety covers only the journey: the article names the journey, the boarding and the disembarking.
- Not declaring the extraordinary value of the luggage: reporting it is a passenger obligation.
- Leaving hand luggage without control or care: the Code places it on the passenger.
- Preparing luggage without following the carrier’s regulations and instructions.
- Exceeding the agreed luggage tariffs.
- Not presenting at the agreed place and moment or per the applicable regulations.
- Looking in these articles for a compensation cap for lost luggage: they carry none.
- Looking here for refund, overbooking or passenger-delay rules.
- Applying this chapter to specially regulated transport, which Article 1391 leaves out.
Frequently asked questions
I fell getting off the vehicle. Does the contract cover that?
Article 1395(b) requires the carrier to guarantee the passenger’s safety during the journey, the boarding and the disembarking. Disembarking is named in the text.
Must I say if I am carrying something very valuable?
Yes: Article 1396(e) requires the passenger to inform the carrier of the extraordinary value of their luggage or part of it.
Who answers for my hand luggage?
Article 1396(f) places on the passenger the duty to have control and care of their hand luggage.
How much must they pay if my suitcase is lost?
This section fixes no amount and no cap. The chapter’s general rule measures compensation for deterioration or loss of things by the value they have at the place and moment they were or should have been delivered, and if your transport is specially regulated, that regulation governs.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 9, 2026
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