SpainLey 11/2022 (General Telecommunications Law), Articles 64(2), 65(1)(f), 67, 68(1) and 69(2), accessible contract information, contract summary and published service information for end users with disabilities
Ley 11/2022, arts. 64.2, 65.1.f), 67, 68.1 y 69.2, General de Telecomunicaciones
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you supply public electronic communications networks or provide publicly available electronic communications services, respect the end-user rights of Chapter IV of Title III of Ley 11/2022 (Articles 64 to 78) (Art. 64(2)); the exception for microenterprises applies only to number-independent interpersonal communications services and only if you provide no other electronic communications service, and a microenterprise using it must tell end users before the contract is made (Art. 64(2)).
- Before a consumer is bound by a contract or any corresponding offer for a publicly available electronic communications service (other than transmission used for machine-to-machine services), give the pre-contract information, on request, in a format accessible to end users with disabilities, in accordance with the rules that harmonize the requirements for products and services (Art. 67(1)).
- Before the contract is concluded, give the specific information that Annex VIII of the European Electronic Communications Code requires; if you provide internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services, that information includes details on products and services designed for end users with disabilities and how updates on this information can be obtained (Art. 67(1); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Annex VIII, Part B, point I(5)).
- In the concise contract summary, state to what extent the products and services are designed for end users with disabilities (Art. 67(2)(f)).
- Give the information required by Article 67 also to end users that are microenterprises, small enterprises or non-profit organizations, unless they have expressly agreed to waive all or part of it (Art. 67(5)).
- If you provide internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services subject to terms and conditions, publish the contract and service information that Annex IX of the European Electronic Communications Code requires in a clear, understandable, automated format that is easily accessible to end users with disabilities, and keep it up to date (Art. 68(1)).
- In that published information, include details of products and services, including any functions, practices, policies and procedures and alterations in the operation of the service, specifically designed for end users with disabilities (Art. 68(1); Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Annex IX, point 2.6).
- Respect end users' right to receive information on the measures adopted to guarantee equivalent access for end users with disabilities (Art. 65(1)(f)).
- If the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia requires it of internet access services or interpersonal communications services, publish up-to-date information on the measures taken to guarantee equivalent access for end users with disabilities (Art. 69(2)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Under Ley 11/2022 a serious infringement is fined up to EUR 2,000,000 and a minor infringement up to EUR 100,000 (Article 109(1)(c) and (d)). The two ceilings are total caps per infringement, not daily amounts. Repeating a serious infringement, meaning a final administrative penalty for two or more infringements of the same type within three years, is a very serious infringement (Articles 106(16) and 109(6)) that carries a fine of up to EUR 20,000,000 and can bring disqualification from supplying networks or providing electronic communications services for up to five years (Article 109(1)(a) and (b)); repeating a minor infringement in the same way is a serious infringement (Article 107(44)). Where the offender is a legal person, its legal representatives and the members of its governing bodies who took part in the decision can also be fined up to EUR 5,000 for a minor, EUR 30,000 for a serious and EUR 60,000 for a very serious infringement (Article 109(5)). Article 110(1) grades the amount by factors that include the seriousness of earlier infringements, the damage caused, voluntary compliance with interim measures, obstruction of the inspection, cessation of the infringing activity, harm to users' rights and active cooperation with the authority. To enforce its decisions and information requests the Ministry or the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia can also impose coercive fines of EUR 125 to EUR 30,000 per day (additional provision 6), independent of and compatible with the penalties. Where the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia holds the sanctioning power, as it does for a serious failure to meet the quality-of-service obligations (Articles 107(39) and 114(1)(a)), a serious infringement is fined up to twice the gross profit obtained from it or, where that measure cannot be applied, up to 1% of the offender's total turnover in the last financial year, and a very serious one at least once and at most five times that gross profit or, failing that measure, up to 2% of that turnover (Article 109(1)(a) and (c)).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 2,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The head of the Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales imposes the sanctions in the cases not reserved to the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia or, for the data protection and privacy rights of Article 66, to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Ley 11/2022, Article 114(1)). The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia sanctions a serious failure to meet the quality-of-service obligations, which include a publication it requires under Article 69(2) (Articles 107(39) and 114(1)(a)). The Ministry and the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia may require operators to supply the information needed to check compliance with the obligations that ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities (Article 9(1)).
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
Ley 11/2022, Annex II, point 37, takes the micro-enterprise definition from Article 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 651/2014. Article 3(4) of that Annex adds that, except in the cases its Article 3(2), second subparagraph, sets out, an enterprise cannot be considered an SME if 25 % or more of its capital or voting rights are directly or indirectly controlled, jointly or individually, by one or more public bodies.
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- an operator that supplies public electronic communications networks or provides publicly available electronic communications services, other than a microenterprise (under Article 2(3) of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) 651/2014, an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million) that provides number-independent interpersonal communications services and no other electronic communications service, and other than a company, public authority or end user that supplies access to a public network through RLAN where that supply is not part of, or is ancillary to, another economic activity or a public service that does not depend on the carriage of signals over those networks
What this law does
Ley 11/2022 incorporates Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the European Electronic Communications Code. Ley 11/2022 entered into force on , the day after its publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado. Article 64(2) obliges operators that supply public electronic communications networks or provide publicly available electronic communications services to respect the end-user rights of the chapter.
Article 64(2) exempts microenterprises that provide number-independent interpersonal communications services from those rights unless they also provide other electronic communications services. Annex II defines a microenterprise by reference to Article 2 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) 651/2014. Article 2(3) of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 651/2014 defines a micro-enterprise by its staff headcount and by a ceiling on its annual turnover or annual balance sheet total.
Article 65(1)(f) gives end users the right to receive information on the measures adopted to guarantee equivalent access for end users with disabilities. Article 67(1) requires pre-contract information to be given on request in a format accessible to end users with disabilities. Article 67(1) also requires operators to give, before the contract is concluded, the specific information that Annex VIII of the European Electronic Communications Code sets out.
Point I(5) of Part B of Annex VIII to Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires providers of internet access services and publicly available interpersonal communications services to give details on products and services designed for end-users with disabilities and how updates on this information can be obtained. Article 67(2)(f) requires the concise contract summary to state to what extent the products and services are designed for end users with disabilities.
Article 67(5) extends that information to end users that are microenterprises, small enterprises or non-profit organizations unless they have expressly agreed to waive all or part of it. Article 68(1) requires operators of internet access services or publicly available interpersonal communications services to publish the contract and service information in a clear, understandable and automated format that is easily accessible to end users with disabilities.
Article 68(1) requires the published information to include the information that Annex IX of the European Electronic Communications Code lists. Point 2.6 of Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/1972 lists details of products and services, including any functions, practices, policies and procedures and alterations in the operation of the service, specifically designed for end-users with disabilities.
Article 69(2) lets the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia require operators to publish information on the measures taken to guarantee equivalent access for end users with disabilities. Article 73 leaves it to a royal decree to set the requirements that operators must meet so that users with disabilities have equivalent access, including contractual information, billing and customer service, and the same choice of operators and services.
Transitional provision 1 keeps the regulations made under the earlier telecommunications laws in force in so far as they do not conflict with Ley 11/2022, until its implementing rules are approved. Article 102(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires the contract information to be provided on request in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities. Article 103(1) of the Directive requires the published information to be in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities.
Article 104(1) of the Directive lets the competent authorities require information on the measures taken to ensure equivalence in access for end-users with disabilities. Article 111(1) of the Directive requires competent authorities to specify the requirements that providers must meet so that end-users with disabilities have equivalent access, including to the related contractual information, and the same choice of undertakings and services.
Article 98 of the Directive exempts microenterprises providing number-independent interpersonal communications services unless they also provide other electronic communications services. Article 107 classes as a serious infringement the violation of the rights of consumers and end users set out in Title III. Article 107(39) classes as a serious infringement a serious failure to meet the quality-of-service obligations of the Law and its implementing rules.
Article 114(1)(a) gives the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia the sanctioning power for that infringement. Article 114(1)(c) gives the sanctioning power to the head of the Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales in the cases not reserved to the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia or the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos.
Article 114(1)(b) gives the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos the serious infringements of item 30 only where the rights violated are the data protection and privacy rights of Article 66.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services or ships a consumer interface.
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