Czech RepublicElectronic Communications Act, sections 63, 63a, 63c and 71, accessible contract information and published service information for end-users with disabilities
§ 63 odst. 3 a 5, § 63a, § 63c a § 71 zákona č. 127/2005 Sb., o elektronických komunikacích
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide a publicly available electronic communications service to consumers, other than a transmission service used for machine-to-machine services, give a consumer who asks the pre-contract information that section 63(1) requires in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities, in accordance with European Union law on the accessibility requirements for products and services (s. 63(1) and (3); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(1)).
- If you provide internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services, include in the pre-contract information detailed information on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities and on how to obtain up-to-date information on them (s. 63(1)(a) and Annex 1, point B(1)(e); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(1) and Annex VIII, Part B, point I(5)).
- Give the same information to an end-user that is a microenterprise, a small enterprise or a non-profit organization unless it has expressly waived the rights (s. 63(4); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(2)).
- State in the contract summary the extent to which your products and services are designed for end-users with disabilities (s. 63(5)(e); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(3)).
- If you provide internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services subject to conditions, publish the information that section 63a(1) lists in a clear, comprehensive, machine-readable manner and in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities, including the details of the products and services specifically intended for them, update it regularly, and give it to the Office on request before you publish it (s. 63a(1) to (3); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 103(1)).
- If you offer a bundle that includes an internet access service or a number-based interpersonal communications service, apply sections 63(5) and (6), 63a and 63b to every service in the bundle (s. 63c(1)).
- If you control at least some elements of the network, directly or through a service level agreement, publish complete, comparable, reliable, user-friendly and up-to-date information on the quality of your internet access or interpersonal communications services and on the measures taken to ensure equivalent access for end-users with disabilities, in a way that allows remote access, and give it to the Office on its request before publication and on a continuing basis for publication under section 66a (s. 71(1) and (4); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 104(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
An offence under section 118(14)(q) and (r) (failing to give the section 63(1) to (4) information or the section 63(5) contract summary), section 118(14)(w) (failing to publish the quality information under section 71(1) or to give consumers the information under section 71(2)) and section 118(15)(l) (failing to publish the section 63a information) carries the middle tier of section 118(26)(b). The ceiling for a legal person or a natural person doing business is 15,000,000 koruna or 5 percent of the net turnover for the last completed accounting period, whichever is higher (Electronic Communications Act, s. 118(26)). Neither the Act nor the Act on liability for offences (250/2016) multiplies the ceiling for a legal person, and the figure is a ceiling, not a floor. Section 41(2) of Act 250/2016 lets the ceiling of the most severely punished offence be raised by up to half where two or more offences are heard together, up to the sum of the ceilings. Section 120(3) doubles the rate of a fine where the same offence is committed again within 2 years of the day the earlier fine became final. Section 118(27) allows the decision to be published where the offence affects the rights of end-users. The Czech Telecommunication Office hears the offence and collects the fine (s. 120(1) and (2)). Section 120(4) sets a limitation period of 5 years, and liability ends no later than 8 years after the offence where the period is interrupted. Section 118(15)(a) (failing to give all the section 63(1) information, Annex 1 included) is in the same middle tier. Section 118(12)(r) (failing to give the Office or the comparison tool provider the section 66a information, which the section 71(4) duty feeds) carries the lowest tier of section 118(26)(a), 5,000,000 koruna. A breach of a measure of general nature issued under section 71(5) or 71(6) is an offence under section 118(1)(l) in the highest tier, 50,000,000 koruna or 10 percent of net turnover, whichever is higher. Section 122(4) lets the Office enforce the section 71(1) duty by coercive fines of up to 10,000,000 koruna in total.
- Rule
- Higher of
- As of
- Currency
- CZK
- Fixed cap
- 15,000,000
- Turnover percentage cap
- 5
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Czech Telecommunication Office (Český telekomunikační úřad), which hears the offences under the Electronic Communications Act and collects and enforces the fines (s. 120(1) and (2))
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Obligation class
Disclosure
Applicability criteria
Section 63e(1) takes the listed sections out of the Act for a microenterprise that provides number-independent interpersonal communications services unless it also provides other electronic communications services, and section 63e(2) requires such a microenterprise to tell end-users so before the contract is concluded. Section 63e does not define the term; footnote 77 to section 63(4) names Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a provider of a publicly available electronic communications service, other than a transmission service used for machine-to-machine services, giving pre-contract information to a consumer (section 63(1) and (3))
- a provider of internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services that makes the service subject to conditions (section 63a(1))
- a provider of internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services that controls at least some network elements, directly or through a service level agreement (section 71(1))
What this law does
Article 102(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires the pre-contract information to be provided, upon request, in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities in accordance with Union law harmonising accessibility requirements for products and services.
Section 63(1) of the Electronic Communications Act (127/2005) requires a provider of a publicly available electronic communications service, other than a provider of transmission services used for machine-to-machine services, to give a consumer the information it lists before the contract is concluded. Section 63(1)(a) includes in that information the information set out in Annex 1 to the Act, to the extent it relates to the service provided.
Point B(1)(e) of Annex 1 requires providers of internet access services and publicly available interpersonal communications services to give detailed information on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities and on how to obtain up-to-date information on them. Point I(5) of Part B of Annex VIII to the Directive lists the details on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities and how updates on this information can be obtained.
Section 63(3) requires that information to be provided on request in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities, in accordance with European Union law on the accessibility requirements for products and services. Section 63(4) requires the information pursuant to section 63(1), (2), (5) and (9) to be given also to an end-user that is a microenterprise, a small enterprise or a non-profit organization unless it has expressly waived the rights.
Article 102(3) of the Directive makes the extent to which the products and services are designed for end-users with disabilities one of the main elements of the contract summary. Section 63(5)(e) requires the contract summary to state the extent to which the products and services are designed for end-users with disabilities.
Article 103(1) of the Directive requires the Annex IX information to be published in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities by providers that make internet access or interpersonal communications services subject to terms and conditions, or by the competent authority itself. Section 63a(1) requires such a provider to publish, in a clear, comprehensive, machine-readable manner and in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities, the information it lists.
Section 63a(1)(b) point 6 lists among that information the details of products and services, including all features, practices, policies and procedures and changes in the operation of services, specifically intended for end-users with disabilities. Section 63a(2) requires the provider to update that information regularly. Section 63a(3) requires the provider to give the Office the information on its request before publication.
Section 63c(1) extends sections 63(5) and 63(6), 63a and 63b to every service in a bundle that includes an internet access service or a number-based interpersonal communications service. Article 104(1) of the Directive lets national regulatory authorities require such providers to publish information on service quality and on measures taken to ensure equivalence in access for end-users with disabilities.
Section 71(1) of the Act imposes that publication duty directly on a provider of internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services that controls at least some elements of the network, directly or through a service level agreement.
Section 71(4) requires the provider to give the Office that information on a continuing basis for publication under section 66a. Footnote 77 to section 63(4), inserted by Act 374/2021, names Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
Section 63e(1) provides that sections 33, 33b, 34, 34a, 38, 43, 63 to 63d, 69b and 71 do not apply to a microenterprise providing number-independent interpersonal communications services unless it also provides other electronic communications services. Section 118(14)(q) and (r) make it an offence to fail to give the information pursuant to section 63(1) to (4) or the contract summary pursuant to section 63(5).
Section 118(15)(a) makes it an offence not to give all the information pursuant to section 63(1) or to give information that conflicts with that section. Section 118(15)(l) makes it an offence not to publish the information pursuant to section 63a. Section 118(14)(w) makes it an offence not to publish the information pursuant to section 71(1) or not to give consumers the information pursuant to section 71(2).
Section 118(26)(b) allows a fine of at most 15,000,000 koruna or 5 percent of the offender's net turnover for the last completed accounting period, whichever is higher, for the offences in section 118(14)(q), (r) and (w) and section 118(15)(l). Section 118(12)(r) makes it an offence not to give the Office or the provider of the comparison tool the information pursuant to section 66a, or to give misleading, incorrect or incomplete information.
Section 118(26)(a) allows a fine of at most 5,000,000 koruna for an offence pursuant to section 118(12)(q) and (r). Section 71(5) lets the Office, where the section 71(1) duty is not being met for a kind of service or by a provider, set by a measure of general nature or by a decision the quality parameters to be measured and the content, form and manner of publishing the section 71(1) information.
Section 118(1)(l) makes it an offence not to meet a condition of a measure of general nature the Office issued under, among others, section 71(5) or 71(6). Section 122(4) lets the Office enforce a duty imposed pursuant to the sections it lists, among them sections 38(2), 38(3), 69b and 71(1), by coercive fines of up to 10,000,000 koruna in total.
Section 120(4) sets a limitation period of 5 years for an offence against the Act, and where the period is interrupted liability ends no later than 8 years after the offence. Section 41(2) of the Act on liability for offences (250/2016) lets the authority raise the ceiling of the most severely punished offence by up to half where two or more offences are heard together, up to the sum of the ceilings for those offences.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services or ships a consumer interface.
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