SpainLey 11/2022 (General Telecommunications Law), Article 74(3), equivalent access for end users with disabilities to emergency services through emergency communications
Ley 11/2022, art. 74.3, General de Telecomunicaciones
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you provide a publicly available number-based interpersonal communications service that allows calls to a number in a national or international numbering plan, respect the right of end users with disabilities to access the emergency services through emergency communications on terms equivalent to those other end users enjoy (Arts. 64(2) and 74(3)).
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.
- 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 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 this law does
Article 74(3) of Ley 11/2022 provides that access to emergency services through emergency communications for end users with disabilities is to be equivalent to that of other end users. Article 74(2) binds the operators of publicly available number-based interpersonal communications services that allow calls to a number in a national or international numbering plan to route emergency communications free of charge to the emergency services.
Article 64(2) obliges the operators of publicly available electronic communications services to respect the rights recognized in the chapter that contains Article 74. Article 65(1)(g) lists among the end-user rights the right to reach the emergency services through emergency communications free of charge, as provided in Article 74.
Article 74(3) leaves to a royal decree the measures that let end users with disabilities reach emergency services on equal terms while travelling in another Member State. Article 74(4) puts on the authorities responsible for the emergency services the duty to inform citizens about the 112 number and its accessibility features.
Section IV(a) of Annex I to Ley 11/2023 requires electronic communications services, in particular the emergency communications of Article 74 of Ley 11/2022, to offer real-time text and full conversation with video in addition to voice. Section V of Annex I to Ley 11/2023 requires the public safety answering point that answers 112 emergency communications to answer them in the same medium in which they were received.
Article 109(5) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires Member States to ensure that access for end-users with disabilities to emergency services is available through emergency communications and is equivalent to that enjoyed by other end-users. Article 107 classes as a serious infringement the violation of the rights of consumers and end users set out in Title III. Article 109(1)(c) sets the fine for a serious infringement at up to EUR 2,000,000.
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.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services or ships a consumer interface.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .