Press Releases

Misapprehension of the Contractual Provisions Is the Electronic Communications Users’ Main Cause of Dissatisfaction

26.04.2013

 

In the first quarter of 2013, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications received 314 complaints from the users of communications services. Most of them (36%) denounced aspects related to the contracts concluded with the providers.
The majority of problems signalled by the users concern the contractual relationship between them and the providers of electronic communications services, more precisely aspects related to the execution, extension, termination of contracts or non-inclusion of certain minimum mandatory provisions in these contracts. The users’ dissatisfaction is mainly caused by the fact that they do not understand the provisions of the contracts either because of their complexity and the lack of sufficient information from the providers, or because they do not read carefully the contracts when they sign them. The users thus end up in situations where they do not even know the provisions referring to the included units (minutes, MB), applicable tariffs, service installation/activation, contract duration and renewal conditions.
Misapprehension of the way in which the electronic communications services are charged and billed (14%) and dissatisfaction with their quality (8%) are other aspects indicated to the Authority. In relation to the quality of the services, the users denounced, among others, the low data transfer speed in the case of the Internet access service (although in most cases this was not guaranteed under the contract) and the delayed installation of the purchased service.
The problems denounced by the users in the timeframe 1 January - 31 March 2013 are similar to those encountered in 2012, when ANCOM received 1,241 complaints. In 2012 as well, the users addressed ANCOM on issues concerning the execution of the contracts concluded with the providers of electronic communications services (33%), failure to understand the way in which the services are billed (12%), technical failures occurred during the provision of the services (10%), as well as cases when the quality of services was below the subscribers’ expectations (7%).
As for the categories of electronic communications services subject to complaints, the most frequent complaints lodged to ANCOM in the first quarter of 2013 concerned the mobile telephone services (32% of all denounced problems), followed by fixed Internet access services (15%) and mobile Internet (12%). By comparison, in 2012 the users’ complaints referred to mobile telephone services(25%), followed by fixed Internet access services (16%) and audiovisual programme retransmission services (14%).
The data ANCOM gathered for 2012 show that most complaints concerned the electronic communications services provided by S.C. RCS&RDS S.A. (29%), S.C. Orange Romania S.A. (18%), S.C. Romtelecom S.A. (17%), S.C. Vodafone Romania S.A. (14%), S.C. Cosmote RMT S.A. (13%). The largest amount of problems associated to the provision of electronic communications services denounced by the users in the first quarter of 2013 related to RCS&RDS (25%), Cosmote (22%), Romtelecom (18%), Orange (17%) and Vodafone (10%).
A problem more and more frequently denounced to ANCOM refers to the contracts concluded over the phone between the users and the providers of electronic communications services (the so-called distance contracts). The main aspects the users complained about concern, on the one side, the difficulty of understanding the offer which is communicated to them over the phone and, on the other side, the failure of realizing that their acceptance, given over the phone, results in the conclusion of a contract which produces the same effects as a written contract. Many end-users do not know that concluding a distance contract (by way of the phone, e-mail, fax, online application etc.) is a legal practice, but such a contract may be concluded only under certain legal provisions.
Thus, once the provider presents its offer and the user accepts it, the latter must receive the information in written form as well and has the right to waive the contract, without invoking any reason, within 14 working days from the transmission of the information by the provider. The offer presented over the phone, e-mail or other means of communication must include, among others, the fundamental characteristics of the services offered and the validity period of the offer or tariffs. Further details on distance contracts are available on the ANCOM website, at the section dedicated to the users: www.ancom.org.ro/Users/ InfoCentre/ A to Z contract issues.
ANCOM may intervene in cases where the providers (of telephone, Internet, television services) break the users’ rights to be informed, do not offer the number portability service, do not include certain information in the contract or do not observe the specific legislation in the electronic communications field. As well, in certain circumstances, ANCOM may take measures in order to amicably solve the disputes between end-users and electronic communications providers. The users have several means at their disposal to denounce problems related to the provision of electronic communications services, and these means are presented in detail on the ANCOM website, here. 

ANCOM has begun and is currently conducting a control campaign, verifying the contracts concluded by the providers of electronic communications services with the residential users, in terms of minimum provisions which must be inserted in the contracts, according to the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011 on electronic communications, approved with amendments and completions by Law no.140/2012. Where finding irregularities in relation to the contracts under analysis, the Authority will take the necessary measures for ensuring that the providers concerned recover their lawful status and that the users’ rights are observed, in accordance with the legislation in the electronic communications field.

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