RomaniaElectronic communications code (Government Emergency Ordinance 111/2011 as amended by Law 198/2022), accessible contract and service information for end users with disabilities
OUG nr. 111/2011 art. 50^2 alin. (2), art. 50^3, art. 50^6 alin. (3) lit. e), art. 50^8, art. 60 alin. (1)-(3), art. 138 alin. (2^1), art. 142 pct. 17^4, 17^9, 17^11 și 25, art. 143 și art. 144 privind comunicațiile electronice, astfel cum au fost introduse sau modificate prin Legea nr. 198/2022
In force.
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide publicly available electronic communications services, make the information that the section of the code containing Article 50^8 requires available on request in a format accessible and relevant to end users with disabilities, in line with Directive (EU) 2019/882 (Art. 50^8; implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(1)).
- Give consumers, with the pre-contract information that Article 50^3 requires, details of the products and services you design for end users with disabilities and how to obtain updated information on them (Art. 50^3; implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(1) and Annex VIII, point (5)).
- State in the contract summary you give a consumer before the contract is concluded the extent to which your products and services are designed for end users with disabilities (Art. 50^6(3)(e); implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 102(3)(e)).
- Publish your contact details, the description of your services and your dispute settlement mechanisms in open data format, in a form that can be read optically and in a format accessible and relevant to end users with disabilities, in line with Directive (EU) 2019/882 (Art. 60(1) and (2); implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 103(1)).
- In the description of your services that you publish, detail the products and services, including any functions, practices, policies and procedures and changes to how the service operates, designed specifically for end users with disabilities (Art. 60(3)(f); implements Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Annex IX, point 2.6).
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
an act of a legislature
Obligation class
Disclosure
Applicability criteria
Article 50^2(2) of the code speaks of the chapter ("prezentul capitol") in which Articles 50^3 to 50^8 sit. The code does not define "microîntreprindere"; Article 76(4), on universal service, refers to microenterprises "aşa cum sunt acestea definite în legislaţia în vigoare" (as they are defined in the legislation in force).
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a provider of publicly available electronic communications services ("furnizorii de servicii de comunicaţii electronice destinate publicului"); Article 60(1) excludes transmission services used for the provision of services between devices ("serviciile de transmisie utilizate pentru furnizarea de servicii între dispozitive"), and Article 50^2(3) applies only Articles 59^11 and 59^12, in part, to contracts for those services
- not a microenterprise ("microîntreprindere") that provides interpersonal communications services that are not based on numbers ("servicii de comunicaţii interpersonale care nu se bazează pe numere") without also providing other publicly available electronic communications services; Article 50^2(2) disapplies the chapter in which Articles 50^3 to 50^8 sit, apart from Article 50^1, to such a microenterprise
What this law does
Article 50^8 of Government Emergency Ordinance 111/2011 on electronic communications, as inserted by Law 198/2022, requires the information that the section of the code containing it covers to be made available on request in a format accessible and relevant to end users with disabilities, in line with Directive (EU) 2019/882.
Article 50^3 requires providers of publicly available electronic communications services to give consumers details of the products and services designed for end users with disabilities and the way to obtain updated information on them. The contract summary that Article 50^6(3) requires a provider to give a consumer must state the extent to which the products and services are designed for end users with disabilities.
Article 60(1) and (2) requires a provider of publicly available electronic communications services, other than a transmission service used for machine-to-machine services, to publish its contact details, its description of services and its dispute settlement mechanisms in open data format and in a format accessible and relevant to end users with disabilities.
Article 60(3)(f) requires the description of services to detail the products and services, with any functions, practices, policies and procedures and changes to how the service operates, designed specifically for end users with disabilities. Article 50^8 and Article 50^3 implement Article 102(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which requires contract information to be provided on request in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities.
Article 50^6(3)(e) implements Article 102(3)(e) of that Directive. Article 60 implements its Article 103(1), which requires the information in its Annex IX to be published in an accessible format for end-users with disabilities. Article 50^2(1) applies Articles 50^3 to 50^7 also to end users that are microenterprises, small enterprises or non-profit organizations, to the extent that they have not explicitly agreed to waive them in whole or in part.
Article 50^2(2) disapplies the chapter, apart from Article 50^1, to microenterprises that provide interpersonal communications services not based on numbers, unless they also provide other publicly available electronic communications services. ANCOM relies on Article 50^8 and on Article 60(2) and (5) of the code as part of the legal basis of its Decision 74/2023.
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 17^4, makes non-compliance with the pre-contract information duty of Article 50^3 a contravention. Article 142, point 17^9, does the same for the contract-summary duties of Article 50^6. Article 142, point 25, makes the breach of the duty to make the Article 60 information public a contravention.
Article 56(1) of Law 198/2022 brings point 220 of its Article 2, which inserts points 17^1 to 17^17 into Article 142, into force 30 days after its publication. ANCOM control staff find these contraventions pursuant to Article 144(1). Article 138(2^1) lets ANCOM control staff verify compliance with the duties it lists, including by stating their capacity as finding agent at any time during the check, before the control note or the contravention report is drawn up.
The duties Article 138(2^1) lists include the duty to inform end users with disabilities pursuant to Article 50^8 and the duty to make public the Article 60 information.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services.
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