Press Releases

The Contracts Concluded for the Provision of Electronic Communications Services Will be Amended

23.02.2012

 

According to the new legal framework in the telecom field, in view of improving consumer protection, starting 25 February 2012, the contracts concluded by consumers with the providers of electronic communications services will contain more minimum mandatory provisions. Furthermore, the new legal provisions establish, among others, a maximum threshold for the initial duration of the contract and bring certain modifications relating to the conclusion of distance contracts which have as object the provision of electronic communications services.
The maximum initial duration of the contracts concluded with the residential end-users may no longer exceed 24 months. Also, the providers have the obligation to give the consumers the possibility to benefit from services for a contractual duration of maximum 12 months, to enable the consumers to choose the offer which suits their needs best. As well, if the business end-users wish to benefit from electronic communications services under the conditions offered to the consumers, the providers have the obligation to admit these requests.
As regards the contractual provisions, according to the new regulations, the operators have the obligation to include in the contracts, among others, the restrictions they impose as to the use of the terminal equipment, the categories of measures they can take should incidents or security threats occur, as well as information on the procedures of traffic management to avoid network congestion. This information will enable the subscribers, for instance, to find out whether their provider will restrict them the access to certain sites or web applications, will encode their telephone set, or will limit the transfer speed upon reaching a certain traffic volume. As for incidents and security threats, the providers must insert in the contract the type of action they might take and its impact on the continuous provision of networks and services at a regular level (e.g. limitation, restriction or interruption of service), as well as the conditions under which these restrictions will be enforced. 
Apart from these new provisions, the contracts must contain - as thus far - the provider’s identification data, the services offered, the quality ensured, the tariffs and their application, the modality of obtaining up-to-date information on tariffs, the initial connection term, the types of technical assistance services offered, the duration of the contract, the conditions of contract renewal or termination, information on the service suspension, compensations that may be granted in the event of non-observance of the contractual provisions, and the dispute resolution procedure.
In addition, pursuant to ANCOM regulations, the contracts concluded for the provision of Internet access services must contain provisions relating to quality parameters such as: nominal/maximum data transfer speed, guaranteed minimum data transfer speed, if applicable, transfer delay and transfer delay variation, packet loss rate, the term from which the Internet access will be provided, expressed in calendar days, as well as the damage repair term and the term of solving the users’ complaints, expressed in hours. The providers will quarterly publish on their websites the values of the aforementioned parameters and will first report on 25 April 2012. More information on the quality parameters of the Internet access service is available here. 
These changes apply to both contracts concluded as of 25 February 2012 and to the contracts concluded by that time, and the providers have the obligation to amend them and to inform the subscribers thereon. Considering that these changes are imposed by the legal provisions and are not the result of the provider’s wish to unilaterally change the contractual provisions, the users who are currently in the minimum contractual period may not invoke these amendments in order to request the contract cancellation without payment of the agreed penalties.
Pursuant to the new legal framework, ANCOM took over the duties relating to the monitoring and control of the distance contracts concluded between the providers of electronic communications services and users. The distance contracts are concluded exclusively via one or several distance communication means (regularly telephone or e-mail), which do not require the simultaneous physical presence of the parties to the contract.
Furthermore, ANCOM will take specific actions, where necessary, to ensure the access of disabled end-users to, and possibility to benefit from, electronic communications services adjusted to their needs and under the same conditions as those applied to the other end-users. In order to identify these actions, ANCOM commissioned a market survey which is expected to show the usage level of the electronic communications services by disabled persons, the main difficulties they face in purchasing and using the services, as well as their proposals to remedy the situation, based on their own experiences.
ANCOM is entitled to sanction the providers of electronic communications services if they do not include these minimum mandatory provisions in their contracts and may resolve the disputes which failed to be settled amiably between the users and the providers in relation to the non-observance of these provisions. In view of resolving such disputes, the users may address ANCOM.

The new provisions are comprised in the Government Emergency Ordinance no.111/2011 on electronic communications, the normative act establishing the national framework applicable to the electronic communications field. The normative act was published in the Romanian Official Journal on 27 December 2011.

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