BulgariaЗакон за електронните съобщения (Electronic Communications Act), Digital Services Act Supervision, Certification and Fines
Electronic Communications Act (Закон за електронните съобщения, ЗЕС, Zakon za elektronnite sabshteniya) чл. 1, ал. 3, чл. 21, ал. 6, чл. 49г, чл. 310а-310и, чл. 323в-323х, изм. ДВ бр. 99 от 21.11.2025 г.
In force since .
A transparency and process rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Disclosure, Reporting
As of .
What it requires
- Comply with every duty that Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 sets for your kind of intermediary service, because the Electronic Communications Act applies its fines to a breach of any of them.
- When the Communications Regulation Commission, or for a video-sharing platform the Council for Electronic Media, asks for information by reasoned decision, supply it by the deadline the officials set, complete, accurate, reliable and not misleading.
- Give the supervising officials access to your premises, documents and records in any medium, copies of them, and access to information carriers including servers, and cooperate with them in an inspection.
- Carry out the measures the authority orders under Article 51(2)(b) or (d) or Article 51(3) of the Regulation, and any commitments it has approved, by the date it sets.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 323ф(1) sets a fine of up to 6 percent of annual income or a property sanction of up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year, for breach of a duty set in the Regulation. Article 323ф(2) sets 1 percent for failing to supply information, supplying inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information, or refusing an on-site inspection. Article 323ф(4) and (5) allow a periodic fine of up to 5 percent of income or average daily worldwide turnover for each day of failing to meet the deadline a decision sets or to carry out a measure or approved commitment.
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Turnover percentage cap
- 6
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Communications Regulation Commission (Комисия за регулиране на съобщенията), the digital services coordinator and the supervisor of intermediary services; the Council for Electronic Media (Съвет за електронни медии) for providers of video-sharing platforms, except Articles 25 and 27 of the Regulation; the Commission for Personal Data Protection for the processing of personal data under the Regulation.
What this law does
Article 1(3) of the Electronic Communications Act, added by Paragraph 1 of the amending Act, makes the Act govern the supervision of providers of intermediary services for compliance with Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 and the interaction between the competent authorities in carrying it out. Article 21(6) makes the Communications Regulation Commission the digital services coordinator under Article 49(2) of the Regulation.
Article 49г(1) names the Communications Regulation Commission and the Council for Electronic Media as the competent authorities under Article 49(1) of the Regulation. Under Article 49г(3), the Council for Electronic Media supervises providers of video-sharing platforms for their duties under the Regulation, except the duties in Articles 25 and 27, which the Commission supervises for every provider of intermediary services.
Under Article 49г(4), the Commission for Personal Data Protection supervises the processing of personal data under the Regulation. Article 49д requires a court or administrative authority that issues an order under Article 9 or 10 of the Regulation to send the Commission a copy of it. Article 310а has the Commission certify out-of-court dispute settlement bodies for disputes between recipients of the service and providers of online platforms.
Article 310в has the Commission grant trusted flagger status under Article 22 of the Regulation. Article 310д has the Commission grant approved researcher status, for a specific study, to a person or legal entity established in Bulgaria that seeks access to data of a very large online platform or very large online search engine.
Under Article 323з, the inspecting officials may enter the premises of persons covered by Article 51(1) of the Regulation, examine documents and records in any medium, take copies, and reach information carriers including servers. Under Article 323и, the Commission may by reasoned decision require a provider of intermediary services to supply information within a deadline the officials set, and the information must be complete, accurate, reliable and not misleading.
Article 323ф(1) fines a provider of intermediary services that breaches a duty set in the Regulation up to 6 percent of its annual income, or imposes a property sanction of up to 6 percent of its worldwide annual turnover in the preceding financial year.
Article 323ф(2) sets the limit at 1 percent for failing to supply information, supplying inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information, or refusing an on-site inspection, and Article 323ф(4) allows a periodic fine of up to 5 percent of average daily worldwide turnover for each day of failing to meet the deadline the decision sets.
Paragraph 21 of the amending Act repeals chapter four of the Electronic Commerce Act, which held the provisions on the liability of information society service providers in Articles 13 to 18. Paragraph 22 adds point 25 to Article 32(1) of the Radio and Television Act, which makes the Council for Electronic Media the competent authority under Article 49 of the Regulation for services of video-sharing platforms within the meaning of that Act.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform.