RomaniaANCOM Decision 74/2023, measures for end users with disabilities of internet access, number-based interpersonal communications and audiovisual transmission services
In force.
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide a service within the scope of the Decision, let end users with disabilities test free of charge, in your commercial premises and those of your authorized partners, the terminal equipment that can meet their needs before they buy it, explaining its functions and how it can meet their needs or allowing its return within a term you set in advance and communicate to the applicant (Art. 5(1)).
- On request of an end user with disabilities, give information materials in an accessible and relevant format on the functions of terminal equipment and how it meets that user's needs, to the extent you hold that information (Art. 5(2)).
- If you have your own website, give end users with disabilities a dedicated section, one click away from the main screen of the website and carrying a suggestive name, and publish in it, in a clear, complete, updated and optically readable form and in an accessible and relevant format, your offer of services addressed to end users with disabilities and other services or facilities they can use, your own offer of specific terminal equipment, any conditions or formalities they must meet to benefit from your offer, and the contractual conditions of your services and other information materials of interest to them (Art. 6(1) and (2); implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 111(1)). Implement this within 4 months of the Decision coming into force (Art. 12(2)).
- On request, give the information of Article 6(2) free of charge in printed form or, if so requested, by e-mail, in an accessible and relevant format or in ways accessible through your customer relations service (Art. 6(3)).
- Let an end user with disabilities submit requests or complaints by telephone and by e-mail, including through a person the user designates; resolve their cases on installation and configuration of services and terminal equipment, faults of the contracted services and moving of services with priority, where those services are also available to other end users; give access to your customer relations service by means adapted to all categories of end users with disabilities, including a messaging service for users with hearing disabilities, on the same commercial conditions as other end users; if you provide mobile telephony, let visually impaired users query the cost-control service by sending an audio message as an alternative to the message service, on the same commercial conditions; and send bills by e-mail free of charge on request, in a format compatible with most document reading programs, with font colors contrasting with the background (Art. 7(1)). Implement this within 12 months of the Decision coming into force (Art. 12(1)).
- On request of an end user with disabilities, give the information that Articles 50^3, 50^4(1), 50^5 to 50^7, 50^10 and 50^11 of the code require, as applicable, through several sensory channels, in an easily understood way, with subtitles for instructional video, as text usable to generate alternative assistive formats such as a file compatible with Braille conversion, in suitable character sizes and with sufficient contrast, with a text alternative for non-text content and, on electronic media, in a form that is accessible, perceivable, usable, understandable and robust (Art. 7(2); implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(1)).
- Offer packages of internet access services and number-based interpersonal communications services that give end users with visual, hearing or speech disabilities access to those services adapted to their needs and on terms equivalent to other end users (Art. 8).
- If you provide mobile electronic communications services, offer end users with disabilities, within your coverage area and on the same technical conditions as other end users, at least through service packages available exclusively at national level, these minimum monthly benefits: for end users with hearing or speech disabilities, an unlimited number of SMS within your own network and 300 SMS within national networks at a recommended price of 4 euro a month including VAT and, on request, 5 GB of data at a recommended price of 2 euro a month including VAT, a total recommended price of 6 euro a month including VAT; for end users with visual disabilities, 2,000 minutes within your own network and 500 minutes within national networks at a recommended price of 2 euro a month including VAT and, on request, 5 GB of data at a recommended price of 2 euro a month including VAT, a total recommended price of 4 euro a month including VAT (Art. 9). Implement this within 4 months of the Decision coming into force (Art. 12(2)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 143(1)(a) of the code fines a contravention of Article 142 from 5,000 lei to 60,000 lei, and up to 100,000 lei for repeated breaches. Article 143(1)(b), in derogation from Article 8(2)(a) of Government Ordinance 2/2001, lets the fine reach up to 5 percent of turnover, and up to 10 percent for repeated breaches, for a person whose turnover exceeds 3,000,000 lei. Turnover is the figure in the last annual financial statement the operator reported (Article 143(3)). Article 151(1) separately lets ANCOM impose administrative fines of up to 30,000 lei for each day of delay to compel the compliance it lists. Article 143(7) lets the offender pay, within 15 days of receiving or being notified of the contravention report, half of the fine applied, in derogation from Government Ordinance 2/2001. Article 149(1)(a) lets ANCOM, once a contravention is found, order the infringement to end and the measures needed to remedy it, and Article 151(1)(e) lets the daily fines compel compliance with those measures. The amounts are in lei and are those of the consolidated text of the code to .
- Rule
- Higher of
- As of
- Minimum
- 5,000
- Currency
- RON
- Fixed cap
- 60,000
- Turnover percentage cap
- 5
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), whose control staff record the contraventions (Government Emergency Ordinance 111/2011, Articles 137(1) and 144(1))
What it reaches
Instrument type
a regulation made under an act
Obligation class
Disclosure
Applicability criteria
The Decision gives the measures of Articles 8 and 9 to end users with visual, hearing or speech disabilities, and Article 10 conditions the individual facilities of Article 9 on the user presenting the original disability certificate issued under the law.
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a provider of internet access service (except those provided to the general public through radio local area networks, "RLAN"), of number-based interpersonal communications service, or of transmission service used for the transmission of audiovisual media services (Article 2(2))
- the service is not provided over public networks with satellite access (Article 2(3))
- the services are not intended for legal persons ("cu excepția cazului în care serviciile de comunicații electronice sunt destinate persoanelor juridice", Article 2(4))
What this law does
ANCOM Decision 74/2023 was published in Monitorul Oficial no. 130 of . ANCOM's page for the Decision records it as in force. Article 1 of the Decision regulates how end users with disabilities are informed of, and given access to, publicly available electronic communications services adapted to their needs and on terms equivalent to those of other end users.
ANCOM made the Decision pursuant to Article 50^8, Article 60(2) and (5) and Article 63 of Government Emergency Ordinance 111/2011, among other provisions. Article 2(2) of the Decision covers internet access services other than those the general public receives through radio local area networks, number-based interpersonal communications services and transmission services used for audiovisual media services.
Article 2(3) of the Decision does not apply to services provided over public networks with satellite access. Article 2(4) of the Decision binds providers except where the services are intended for legal persons. Article 5(1) requires a provider to let end users with disabilities test terminal equipment free of charge, in its own and its authorized partners' commercial premises, before buying it.
Article 5(2) requires a provider to give, on request, information materials on how terminal equipment meets the needs of end users with disabilities in an accessible and relevant format. Article 6(1) requires a provider that has its own website to give end users with disabilities a dedicated section, one click away from the main screen of the website and carrying a suggestive name.
Article 6(2) lists what the section must publish, in a clear, complete, updated and optically readable form and in an accessible and relevant format. Article 6(3) requires a provider to give that information free of charge on request in printed form or by e-mail in an accessible and relevant format.
Article 7(1) requires a provider to offer the additional facilities it lists, among them complaints by telephone and e-mail, priority resolution of installation and fault cases, a messaging service for users with hearing disabilities, an audio cost-control query for visually impaired users of mobile services and bills sent free of charge by e-mail on request in a format compatible with most document-reading programs.
Article 7(2) requires a provider to give end users with disabilities, on request, the contract information of Articles 50^3, 50^4(1), 50^5 to 50^7, 50^10 and 50^11 of the code by the means it lists, among them formats usable with screen readers and with Braille conversion. Article 8 requires a provider to offer packages of these services that give end users with visual, hearing or speech disabilities access on equivalent terms.
Article 9 requires a provider of mobile services to offer, in every month, packages available exclusively at national level with the minimum benefits that it lists for hearing and speech disabilities and for visual disabilities. Article 10 makes the individual facilities of Article 9 conditional on the end user presenting the original disability certificate issued under the law.
Article 11 lets a provider refuse multiple requests for those packages during a similar contract between the same parties. Article 12 requires providers to implement Article 7 within 12 months, and Articles 6 and 9 within 4 months, of the Decision coming into force. Article 13 has ANCOM review the conditions of Article 9 12 months after they are implemented, taking account of the characteristics of the electronic communications services.
Article 14(1) brings the Decision into force 3 days after publication. Article 14(2) repeals Decision 160/2015 from that day, apart from its Articles 6 and 10, repealed after 4 months, and its Article 7, repealed after 12 months. Article 111(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires competent authorities to specify requirements for providers of publicly available electronic communications services to ensure that end-users with disabilities have equivalent access and choice.
Article 142, point 17^11, of the code makes non-compliance with the duty to inform end users with disabilities pursuant to Article 50^8 a contravention. Article 142, point 25, makes the breach of the duty to make the Article 60 information public a contravention. Point 52 of Article 142 of the code, in its 2019 text, made non-compliance with the measures and obligations imposed pursuant to Article 63, among other articles, a contravention. Law 198/2022 repealed point 52 of Article 142. ANCOM control staff find these contraventions pursuant to Article 144(1).
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services or ships a consumer interface.
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