Executive Order on end-user rights in the telecommunications area, sections 3 and 4(1) to (4) and Annexes 1 and 2, calls to the text telephone service, contract summary and contract information in an accessible format

Executive Order 566 of 24 May 2023 on end-user rights in the telecommunications area implements parts of Directive 2002/58/EC and of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the European Electronic Communications Code. The Order is made under sections 3, 4(1), items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8, and 5(1) of the Telecommunications Act.

Section 3 of the Telecommunications Act lets the Minister for Digital Government make rules obliging network owners and providers to give end-users free emergency communications and calls to directory enquiry services, the text telephone and other services vital to society.

Section 3 of the Order requires providers of voice communication services to ensure that their end-users can call the universal service provider’s text telephone service and at least one call-based, nationwide directory enquiry service that holds all numbers in the Danish numbering plan assigned to end-users.

Section 4(1) requires commercial providers of public electronic communications services and providers of number-independent interpersonal communications services to give a consumer, before a contract is concluded, the information in Annex 1 or 2 and in Articles 5 and 6 of Directive 2011/83/EU in a clear and understandable way.

Section 4(2) requires those providers, clearly and prominently and immediately before the consumer places the order, to give the consumer a concise and easily readable contract summary in line with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2243, and, where that is not possible before the contract for objective technical reasons, as soon as possible afterwards, the contract then taking effect when the consumer confirms consent.

Article 102(3)(e) 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. The Agency’s guidance states that the information in the contract summary, whether printed or electronic, must meet the relevant accessibility requirements of EU law harmonising accessibility requirements for products and services, Directive (EU) 2019/882.

Section 4(3) requires the information to be provided on request in a format accessible to end-users with disabilities. The Agency’s guidance states that this does not oblige providers to prepare the document in two or more formats, and that it is enough for the document holding the information in section 4(1) to be accessible to end-users with disabilities.

Item 17 of Annex 1 makes detailed information on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities part of the minimum contents of a consumer contract. Item 15 of Annex 2 requires the same information from a provider of prepaid electronic communications services. Section 1(3) exempts services offered only by prepaid cards, or services equivalent to them, from sections 6 and 11 to 17 of the Order.

Section 1(4) leaves outside the Order microenterprises that provide number-independent interpersonal communications services, unless they also provide electronic communications services. Section 1(2) leaves outside the Order payphones and other access to public voice telephony under section 6 of the Act, the distribution of radio and television programmes in community antenna systems, and machine-to-machine communications services unless otherwise stated.

Section 19(1) brought the Order into force on 1 July 2023. Section 19(2) repealed Executive Order 1887 of 8 December 2020 on the same subject. Article 102(1) of the Directive requires the 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.

Point I(5) of Part B of Annex VIII to the Directive lists details on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities among the contract information. The Agency’s guidance ties section 4(1) and (3) of the Order to Article 102(1) of the Directive.

Article 111(1) of the Directive requires Member States to ensure that the competent authorities specify requirements for providers of publicly available electronic communications services so that end-users with disabilities have equivalent access, including to the related contract information, and the choice of undertakings and services available to most end-users.

Article 85(4) of the Directive requires Member States, in light of national conditions, to ensure that support is provided, as appropriate, to consumers with disabilities and that other specific measures are taken, where appropriate, with a view to ensuring that specific services that enhance equivalent access, including where necessary total conversation services and relay services, are available and affordable.

Section 20(1) of the Act has Digitaliseringsstyrelsen supervise compliance with sections 3 to 6 and 14 to 19 of the Act and the rules and conditions issued under them. Digitaliseringsstyrelsen carries out the general supervision of providers’ compliance with the Order, and complaints from end-users about breaches that matter to their own relationship with the provider are as a rule handled by the Teleankenævnet (Telecommunications Appeals Board).

Section 79(1) of the Act lets Digitaliseringsstyrelsen and the Teleklagenævnet impose coercive fines on a party that fails to supply information they may require or to comply with their decisions.