Decree on measures for end users with disabilities (Uradni list RS 38/14), applied under Article 321(2) of the Electronic Communications Act (ZEKom-2), duties of the universal service provider

The Government issued the Decree on measures for end users with disabilities (Uradni list RS 38/14) on the basis of Article 115(2), point 5, of the earlier Electronic Communications Act (Uradni list RS 109/12 and 110/13), and Article 1 states that it sets minimum measures for end users with disabilities in line with Directive 2002/22/EC.

Article 321(1), point 30, of the ZEKom-2 ended the validity of the Decree on the day the ZEKom-2 took effect, 10 November 2022, and Article 321(2) has it apply until regulations made on the basis of the ZEKom-2 are issued. Article 2(1) defines the end users with disabilities that the Decree protects by the degree of their bodily impairment, from loss of sight, from loss of hearing or overall.

Article 3 requires the universal service provider to treat as a priority the request of an end user with a disability for connection to the public communications network at a fixed location, to give that end user a 50 percent discount on the connection, and to deal with and clear faults on the access line to that end user as a priority and free of charge.

Article 4(1) requires the general terms for access to publicly available telephone services at a fixed location, and the price list, to be available in audio and video form or in an electronic form that allows conversion into a form the end user with a disability can perceive.

Article 4(2) gives a subscriber with a disability a 50 percent discount on the monthly subscription for those services, and Article 4(3) requires the provider to let a blind or partially sighted subscriber learn the amount of the bill by voice messages or in an electronic form that allows conversion into a form that subscriber can perceive. Article 4(4) leaves the technical equipment for the conversion to the end user with a disability.

Article 5 requires the provider to let an end user with a disability buy or rent terminal equipment adapted to that end user's needs, with at least simple use, larger and easily recognisable keys, easily adjusted screen contrast, easily adjusted or boosted sound volume, screen reading, speed dialling, visual and audible alerts with adjustable or boosted ringing volume and connection to a hearing aid, sold at its acquisition value or rented at a price based on it.

Article 6 requires the provider to make the data of the universal directory available by voice on a special number to a blind or partially sighted end user with a disability, with help in connecting calls, and calls to that number are free for those end users. Article 7 requires the provider to make subscriber data from the universal directory available on a special number to a deaf or hard of hearing end user with a disability as written text sent to that end user's terminal.

Article 8 requires the provider, in each area with its own trunk code, to give wheelchair access to public payphones or other access points for public voice telephony and to their terminals, for at least 20 percent of them, and to mark key number five of their keypads for touch, with the keys in the order of SIST ISO/IEC 9995-4.

Article 8(4) requires the provider to keep a yearly updated list of their locations, in audio or convertible electronic form for blind and partially sighted end users, at its points of sale and on websites designed in line with international recommendations on web accessibility.

Article 9 requires the provider to let a deaf or hard of hearing end user with a disability make emergency calls in sign languages and other forms of non-spoken language and, in every case, by sending written text from the terminal of that end user as the minimum. Article 11 limits the discounts of Articles 3(2) and 4(2) to an end user or subscriber with a disability who lacks the means to meet minimum living needs.

AKOS states that Telekom Slovenije d.d. provides the universal service of connection to the public communications network and internet access, under an obligation valid until 1 July 2029, and TSmedia d.o.o. the directory and directory enquiry service until 3 December 2029, and that both companies must also carry out the measures for end users with disabilities.

Article 179(1) of the ZEKom-2 has AKOS prescribe the quality of the universal service by general act, and Article 6 of the AKOS General Act on the quality of universal service (Uradni list RS 55/23 and 108/24) requires a universal service provider that provides measures for end users with disabilities to carry them out regularly, without disruption and permanently.

Article 85(4) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 is the source of the obligation, and it requires Member States to ensure that support is provided, as appropriate, to consumers with disabilities and that other specific measures are taken so that related terminal equipment and specific equipment and services that enhance equivalent access are available and affordable.

Article 301(1), point 6, of the ZEKom-2 fines a legal person EUR 200 to EUR 1,000, and a legal person that counts as a medium-sized or large company according to the company law EUR 1,000 to EUR 20,000, for not acting in line with the general act of Article 179(1). Article 301(2) fines a sole trader or self-employed individual EUR 200 to EUR 1,000, Article 301(3) fines the responsible person EUR 100 to EUR 500, and Article 301(4) fines an individual EUR 300 to EUR 1,000.