Telekommunikationsgesetz 2021 (TKG 2021), contract information on request in an accessible format, the contract summary's features for end-users with disabilities, and general terms and conditions in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities (Sections 129, 132 and 133)

Section 129(2) of the TKG 2021 requires a provider, on request, to give the information that section 129(1) requires before a consumer is bound by a contract in a format that meets the requirements of Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2019/882. Article 102(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 is the source of that duty. Section 129(1) leaves out a provider that provides machine-to-machine transmission services.

Section 129(3) extends the information to end-users that are microenterprises, small enterprises or non-profit organisations, unless they have expressly agreed to waive the provisions in whole or in part. Section 129(4) requires a provider subject to section 129(1), except where it provides a machine-to-machine transmission service, to give consumers clear and easily readable contract summaries.

The summaries must follow the template of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2243 and contain the information it sets as their main elements. The template's section on features for end-users with disabilities requires information on the main products and services for end-users with disabilities. Article 102(3)(e) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 is the source of that element, the extent to which the products and services are designed for end-users with disabilities.

The provider must fill in the summaries and give them to consumers free of charge before the contract is concluded, including for distance contracts. Section 132(1) requires a provider to publish its general terms and conditions and its price provisions with contents that are clear, comprehensive and machine-readable and in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities. Article 103(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 is the source of that duty.

Section 132(2) requires the general terms and conditions between providers and end-users to contain, as far as the nature of the service makes it possible, at least the items it lists. Item 10 of section 132(2) lists details of products and services designed specifically for users with disabilities and the means of obtaining updated information on them.

Section 133(1) of the TKG 2021 requires a provider to notify the regulator of its general terms and conditions, its price provisions and every change to them before it starts the service. Section 133(3) exempts from that duty a provider with fewer than 1,000 end-users or, for a provider of number-independent interpersonal communications services, fewer than 350,000 end-users in the federal territory.

Section 133(6) lets the regulator object within six weeks to notified general terms and conditions that do not comply with the Act or the Verordnungen made under it, and the objection bars their further use. Section 133(7) lets the regulator open a supervisory procedure under section 184 against an exempt provider whose general terms and conditions do not comply. Section 188(4) of the TKG 2021 sets a fine of up to EUR 50,000 for the administrative offences it lists.

Item 18 of section 188(4) lists a failure to give the information in the manner that section 129(2) prescribes. Item 18 also lists a failure to provide, fill in or give free of charge the contract summaries under section 129(4). Section 188(6) of the TKG 2021 sets a fine of up to EUR 100,000 for the administrative offences it lists. Item 5 of section 188(6) lists a failure to publish the general terms and conditions or the price provisions in suitable form in breach of section 132(1).

Item 6 of section 188(6) lists a failure to notify the regulator of general terms and conditions, price provisions or changes to them in time under section 133(1) and (4). Section 4, item 36 of the TKG 2021 defines a provider (Anbieter) as an enterprise that offers a communications service to the public. Fines that the Fernmeldebüro imposes under the Act fall to the federal government.

Section 188(7) of the TKG 2021 requires the authority, in setting a fine, to consider whether the offence was committed commercially or repeatedly, and to weigh the unlawful advantage gained by a commercial offence. Section 188(9) of the TKG 2021 excludes an administrative offence under section 188 where the act is a criminal offence within the jurisdiction of the courts or carries a stricter penalty under other administrative penal provisions.

Section 189 of the TKG 2021 lets the penalty decision for an offence under section 188(5) or (6) order its publication in one or more periodicals at the offender's cost, where the offender has already been punished twice for offences based on the same harmful tendency and further offences under the Act are to be feared.

Under section 9(1) of the Verwaltungsstrafgesetz 1991 (VStG), the person called to represent a legal person externally answers for its compliance with administrative provisions, unless a responsible officer has been appointed. Section 9(7) of the VStG makes the legal person jointly and severally liable for the fines imposed on that person or on a responsible officer, and for the costs of the proceedings.

Under section 184(1) of the TKG 2021, a regulator that has indications that an undertaking breaches the Act or a Verordnung made under it informs the undertaking and gives it the opportunity to comment or to remedy the defects within a reasonable time. If the defects have not been remedied when that time runs out, section 184(2) requires the regulator to establish them by decision and to order the appropriate measures that secure compliance, with a time limit.

Where those measures fail, section 184(3) lets the regulator suspend the right of an undertaking that has seriously or repeatedly breached its obligations to provide communications networks or services until the defects are remedied, or prohibit it from continuing to provide them. Item 17 of section 198 of the TKG 2021 assigns the decision under section 184(3) to the Telekom-Control-Kommission.

Section 190(1) of the TKG 2021 lets the regulator apply to the Cartel Court to fix and skim off the economic advantage that an undertaking gained by an unlawful act against the Act or a Verordnung adopted on the basis of it. The Cartel Court may set the amount at as much as 10% of the undertaking's previous-year turnover. Item 18 of section 198 of the TKG 2021 assigns the finding and the application provided for in section 190 to the Telekom-Control-Kommission.

Section 5(1) of the Verwaltungsvollstreckungsgesetz 1991 (VVG) enforces a duty to tolerate, to refrain or to act that a third party cannot carry out by coercive fines that hold the obligated party to its duty. Section 5(3) of the VVG caps each coercive fine at EUR 726. Section 5(4) of the VVG allows coercive fines against legal persons, other than public-law bodies, and against registered partnerships.