LithuaniaElectronic Communications Service Provision Rules (Communications Regulatory Authority), points 4.7, 5.2, 11.5, 15, 16.5 and 19, accessible service and contract information for end users with disabilities
Nr. 1V-1160 Elektroninių ryšių paslaugų teikimo taisyklės, 4.7, 5.2, 11.5, 15, 16.5 ir 19 p. (neįgalių galutinių paslaugų gavėjų informacija)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide internet access services or interpersonal communications services, publish, in your customer service centers at a place accessible to every end user and on your website, information on the measures you have taken to ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities to those services, including all functions, practices, policies and procedures and changes in the service specially adapted for them (Rules, points 4 and 4.7); the Rules in this wording have applied since .
- Publish that information in a computer-readable format and, in line with the EU acts that harmonize accessibility requirements for products and services and the national acts that implement them, in other formats so that end users with disabilities can perceive it according to the kind of disability (Rules, point 5.2).
- Before a consumer is bound by a contract or offer, give the consumer, if you provide internet access services or interpersonal communications services, full information on the products and services intended for consumers with disabilities and on how the consumer can get the latest information about them (Rules, points 10 and 11.5); give it clearly and intelligibly on a durable medium or in a document that is easy to download (Rules, point 14).
- At the request of a consumer with a disability, give the information in points 10 to 13 of the Rules in the formats point 5.2 sets (Rules, point 15).
- Before the contract is made, give the consumer free of charge a concise and easily understandable contract summary that states the extent to which the services and products offered are adapted for consumers with disabilities; a provider that provides only transmission services used for machine-to-machine services is outside this duty (Rules, points 16 and 16.5).
- Treat the information in points 10 to 13 of the Rules and the contract summary in point 16 as an integral part of the contract, which only you and the consumer can change by agreement (Rules, point 18).
- Give the Authority, when it requires it, the information in point 4 of the Rules before you publish it, and clarify or supplement it within the period the Authority sets, at least 10 working days (Rules, point 6).
- Apply the Rules' chapter on information before the contract (points 10 to 18, the contract summary of point 16 included) also when you give information to an end user that is a very small or small enterprise or a non-profit organization, unless it expressly agrees that all or part of those provisions do not apply; this extension does not reach point 15 (Rules, point 19).
- If you are a very small enterprise, as the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business defines it, that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services, the Rules do not bind you except point 2 (Rules, point 2); tell end users, before you conclude a contract with them, that the exception applies to that contract (Rules, point 2).
- If you find that you breached the Rules for particular consumers or groups of consumers or end users, remedy the breach also for the other consumers and end users of the same category (Rules, point 83).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Communications Regulatory Authority (Lietuvos Respublikos ryšių reguliavimo tarnyba, RRT), which examines infringements and imposes the economic sanctions under Articles 83 to 91 of the Electronic Communications Law
What it reaches
Instrument type
a regulation made under an act
Applicability criteria
Point 2 of the Rules: "Taisyklės, išskyrus šį punktą, netaikomos viešųjų elektroninių ryšių paslaugų teikėjams, kurie pagal Lietuvos Respublikos smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros įstatymą yra labai mažos įmonės ir kurie teikia tik su numeriu nesiejamas asmenų tarpusavio ryšio paslaugas." (the Rules, except that point, do not apply to public electronic communications providers that are very small enterprises under the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business and provide only number-independent interpersonal communications services). Article 3(3) of the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business (No. VIII-935) reads: "Labai maža įmonė – įmonė, kurioje dirba mažiau kaip 10 darbuotojų ir kurios finansiniai duomenys atitinka bent vieną iš šių sąlygų: 1 ) įmonės metinės pajamos neviršija 2 mln. eurų; 2 ) įmonės balanse nurodyto turto vertė neviršija 2 mln. eurų." (a very small enterprise is an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees whose financial data meet at least one of two conditions: annual revenue not above EUR 2 million; balance-sheet assets not above EUR 2 million). Article 2(7) of the same Law defines an enterprise as a legal person ("Įmonė – ekonominę veiklą vykdantis juridinis asmuo."), and Article 4(6) equates a natural person who carries on economic activity (verslininkas) to a very small, small or medium-sized enterprise by the same headcount and financial data ("Pagal šio straipsnio 1 dalyje nurodytą darbuotojų skaičių ir finansinius duomenis verslininkas prilyginamas labai mažai, mažai arba vidutinei įmonei."). Article 3(13) does not treat as a very small enterprise one in which the State or a municipality holds 25 percent or more of the capital or of the votes, save for the investors it names. Point 19 reaches end users that are very small or small enterprises or non-profit organizations; Article 3(2) of the same Law reads: "Maža įmonė – įmonė, kurioje dirba mažiau kaip 50 darbuotojų ir kurios finansiniai duomenys atitinka bent vieną iš šių sąlygų: 1 ) įmonės metinės pajamos neviršija 10 mln. eurų; 2 ) įmonės balanse nurodyto turto vertė neviršija 10 mln. eurų." (a small enterprise has fewer than 50 employees and either annual revenue or balance-sheet assets not above EUR 10 million).
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a provider of public electronic communications services; the publication duty of points 4 to 6 binds a provider of internet access services or interpersonal communications services
- the provider is not a very small enterprise (labai maža įmonė), as the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business defines it, that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services (point 2)
What this law does
The Council of the Communications Regulatory Authority set out the Electronic Communications Service Provision Rules under Article 40(1) to (3) of the Electronic Communications Law. The same preamble states that the Rules implement Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the European Electronic Communications Code.
Article 40(1) of the Electronic Communications Law requires public electronic communications services to be provided in line with the requirements of the Civil Code, the Law and the Electronic Communications Service Provision Rules the Authority approves. Point 1 says the Rules set the content requirements of the contract with end users of public electronic communications services, the terms of supply, the payment arrangements and the rules on publishing and providing information.
Point 2 disapplies the Rules, except that point, to a public electronic communications provider that is a very small enterprise under the Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Business and provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services. Point 2 requires such a provider to inform end users, before it concludes a contract with them, that the exception applies to that contract.
Point 4 requires a provider of internet access services or interpersonal communications services to publish information, in its customer service centers at a place accessible to every end user and on its website. Point 4.7 makes that information include the measures the provider has taken to ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities to its services, with all functions, practices, policies and procedures and changes in the service specially adapted for them.
Point 4.7 follows point 2.6 of Annex IX to Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which 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.
Point 5.2 requires that information to be in a computer-readable format and, in line with the EU acts that harmonize accessibility requirements and the national acts that implement them, in other formats so that end users with disabilities can perceive it according to the kind of disability. Point 6 allows the Authority to require the provider to submit the information to it before publishing it, and to clarify or supplement it within a period of at least 10 working days.
Point 5.2 and Article 103(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 correspond: the Directive has the information in Annex IX published in a machine-readable manner and in an accessible format for end users with disabilities. Point 10 requires a public electronic communications provider, except one that provides only transmission services used for machine-to-machine services, to give a consumer at least the listed information before the consumer is bound by a contract or any other relevant offer.
Point 11.5 adds, for a provider of internet access services or interpersonal communications services, full information on the products and services intended for consumers with disabilities and on how the consumer can get the latest information about them. Point 11.5 corresponds to point 5 of Part I of Annex VIII to Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which lists details on products and services designed for end users with disabilities among the information given before a consumer is bound.
Point 14 requires the information in points 10 to 13 to be given clearly and intelligibly on a durable medium or, where that is not feasible, in a document that is easy to download electronically. Point 15 requires the provider, at the request of a consumer with a disability, to give the information in points 10 to 13 in the formats that point 5.2 sets.
Point 15 and the last sentence of Article 102(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 correspond: the Directive has the information provided, upon request, in an accessible format for end users with disabilities. Point 16 requires the provider, except one that provides only transmission services used for machine-to-machine services, to give the consumer free of charge, before the contract is made, a concise and easily understandable contract summary.
Point 16.5 makes the summary state the extent to which the services and products offered in the contract are adapted for consumers with disabilities. Point 16.5 corresponds to Article 102(3), point (e), of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which has the contract summary state the extent to which the products and services are designed for end users with disabilities.
Point 18 makes the information in points 10 to 13 and the contract summary in point 16 an integral part of the contract, which only the parties can change by agreement. Point 19 applies the provisions of that chapter, except point 15, also to end users that are very small or small enterprises or non-profit organizations, unless they expressly agree to waive all or some of them.
Council decision No. TN-850 of set out the approving act in new wording from and amended points of the Rules; the Rules remain headed as worded by order No. (1.9E)1V-174. Order No. (1.9E)1V-174 of of the Director of the Authority set out the Rules in new wording from . That wording already carried the duty in point 15 to give a consumer with a disability the information in accessible formats.
Point 83 requires a provider that finds it has breached the Rules for particular consumers or groups of consumers or end users to remedy the breach also for the other consumers and end users of the same category. Point 84 makes providers answerable for not following the Rules in the way and on the conditions the Electronic Communications Law sets.
Article 41(1) of the Electronic Communications Law lets an end user bring a dispute with a provider to the Communications Regulatory Authority for out-of-court examination, and also go directly to court. Article 41(3) requires the end user first to apply to the provider in writing and state its claims, and the Authority refuses to examine a dispute brought to it without that step.
Article 41(5) has disputes between consumers and electronic communications providers examined by the procedure the Law on Consumer Rights Protection sets. Article 35(1) lets operators engage in electronic communications activity without a separate prior authorization from State institutions, provided they comply with the Law and the other legal acts that regulate their activity.
Article 36(2), point 7 lets the provisions of the Authority's legal acts setting the general conditions for engaging in electronic communications activity concern sector-specific consumer protection rules, including the access of end users with disabilities to public electronic communications services.
Article 83(1) has the Authority, when it finds that an operator does not comply with the legal acts setting the conditions for engaging in electronic communications activity or does not carry out the Authority's requirements given in the cases the Law sets, among the other failures it lists, notify the operator of the infringement in writing and give it at least 14 calendar days to state its view.
Article 83(2) allows the Authority to require that an infringement stop at once or within a period of at most one month. Article 83(3) allows the Authority to take other appropriate and proportionate measures to secure compliance with the legal acts, including the economic sanctions in Article 90. Article 83(3) also lets the Authority impose effective, proportionate and dissuasive economic sanctions even where the infringement has stopped.
Where an infringement is minor, in that the operator caused no material harm, stopped the infringement and removed its effects, and compliance can be secured by other means, Article 83(3) lets the Authority give a warning instead of an economic pecuniary sanction.
Article 83(10) applies the Law's enforcement chapter to operators insofar as it concerns their electronic communications activity, and leaves natural persons who do not engage in that activity, and the managers or other responsible persons of legal persons that do not, to the Code of Administrative Offences.
Article 90(1) sets a fine with a ceiling of 3 percent of the operator's total annual proceeds from electronic communications activity, or EUR 86,900 where those proceeds are hard or impossible to compute, for an operator that does not comply with the legal acts setting the conditions for engaging in electronic communications activity and for the other failures the paragraph lists.
Article 90(2) sets a fine with a ceiling of 5 percent of those proceeds, or EUR 144,800 where they are hard or impossible to compute, for a repeat of that infringement within a year of the earlier sanction. Article 90(3) sets a fine with a ceiling of EUR 2,900, or EUR 5,800 for a repeat within a year, where the annual proceeds fall short of EUR 86,900.
Article 90(4) sets a fine with a ceiling of EUR 14,500, and a ceiling of EUR 1,500 for each day of a continuing violation, for an operator that does not carry out the Authority's requirements and for the other failures the paragraph lists.
Article 90(5) has the Authority bar an operator from providing electronic communications networks or services for a period of at most three years, or suspend for at most three years or revoke the right to use electronic communications resources, for a gross or systematic breach of the obligations the paragraph lists.
Article 90(6) treats as gross an infringement under Article 90(5) that caused damage above EUR 86,900 or serious consequences, an interruption of public electronic communications networks or services to other operators or to end users, and as systematic one committed three or more times within a year.
Article 90(7) has the Authority, together with the sanctions in Article 90(1) to (5), order the confiscation of the items that were the instrument or direct object of the infringement, or order the operator to make good the damage its unlawful act caused, or both. Article 91(2) sets the base amount of a fine at 50 percent of the maximum, lowered where only mitigating circumstances are found and raised where only aggravating circumstances are found.
Article 91(3) takes the total annual revenue for Article 90(1) and (2) from the operator's revenue from electronic communications activity in the previous reporting year. Article 87(2) bars economic sanctions for an infringement committed more than 5 years earlier or, for a continuing infringement, more than 3 years after it was detected.
The edition of the Law that applied from already set the fines in Article 90(1) with a ceiling of 3 percent of the operator's total annual proceeds from electronic communications activity, or EUR 86,900 where those proceeds are hard or impossible to compute. Act No. XV-815 of amended Articles 83 and 90 of the Law, among others, from . Act No. XV-920 of amended Articles 83, 90, 91 and 95 of the Law from .
Under Article 5(2) of Act No. XV-920, decisions imposing an economic pecuniary sanction that the Authority adopted and that became final by are executed under the provisions of the Law in force until that day.
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