National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

This Guide was designed by ANRCETI Legal Service, based on the Law on Electronic Communications no.241-XVI of 15.11.2007, Law on Consumer Protection no.105-XV of 13.03.2003, other normative acts, as well as regulatory documents pertaining to electronic communications and information technology sector. It comprises useful data for users of electronic communications services with reference to their rights and obligations, recommendations and advice to assist them in selecting services.
 

I. Rights and Obligations
II. Recommendations and Advice
III. Advice for Public Telephone Service Users
IV. Advice for Users of Internet Access Service

I. Rights and Obligations

The end-user of electronic communications services shall have the following rights:

a) to conclude a written contract with the provider of public electronic communications services;
b) to be protected against the risk of being provided a service that might endanger his life, health or security or affect his legal rights and interests;
c) to be trained as end-user, to be fully, correctly and precisely informed on service essentials, so that the decision he takes in relation to services best meet his needs/interests; 
d) to be compensated for damages resulting from inadequate service quality or non-compliance with other contractual clauses, as provided by law;
e) to refuse signing a contract that contains abusive clauses, as provided by law;
f) to cancel a contract where the end-user deems the price to be higher than the initial one.

The electronic communications service provider shall:

∙ conclude a written contract and provide a fiscal document (upon payment), if the end-user makes the payment in advance;
∙ inform the end-user in writing about contract modifications at least one month before they become effective and about his right to cancel the contract penalty-free, where he does not accept the new conditions, except when the new conditions are more favorable for the user; 
∙ make publicly available updated information on applicable prices and tariffs, on other conditions for network and service provision.

Electronic communications service providers shall not:

∙ include abusive clauses in contracts signed with end-users;
∙ apply abusive commercial practices;
∙ impose acquisition by the end-user of an extra electronic communications service. 

REMARK: Abusive clauses.Any clause included in a contract between the provider of electronic communications service and the end-users shall be considered abusive, if it restricts or exonerates the provider of responsibility, except cases provided by law.

Any service-provision contract between the service provider and the end-user shall be considered abusive, if it contains unclear, ambiguous clauses, requiring special knowledge to be understood. Contractual clauses shall be considered abusive, if they have not been subject to individual negotiations between the service provider and the end-user or that cause significant imbalance between the parties’ obligations and rights.

Additional Service. If the service provider has provided an additional service that has not previously been agreed upon in the initial contract, the end-user does not have to accept such a service. In such a case the end-user may do the following:

∙ Request that the service provider exclude or cancel the extra service, or
∙ Accept the extra-service as necessary or advantageous and the cost as reasonable; or
∙ Negotiate a more reasonable or acceptable solution. 

IMPORTANT

The contract between the electronic communications service provider and the end-user must contain the following minimal clauses:

∙ name and address, other data identifying the provider;
∙ services provided, service quality and lead time before initial connection;
∙ types of technical maintenance services;
∙ price and tariffs per contracted product or service, manner of their application and ways to obtain updated information regarding prices and maintenance services;
∙ contract validity term, conditions for renewal and termination, as well as conditions for service provision suspension;
∙ applicable compensations and compensation procedure in case of poor inadequate service quality or non-compliance with other contractual clauses;
∙ methods of commencing dispute resolution procedure.  

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II. Recommendations and Advice

The end-user needs to know that it is obligatory for providers of public telephone services and Internet access services to make publicly available updated information on applicable prices and tariffs, on other service provision conditions. Such information must cover the following issues:

∙ name and address, other identification data of the provider: telephone, fax, e-mail address, Internet site, addresses and office daily schedules;
∙ description of types of services offered by the provider (access services, local, long-distance, international calls, services offered to legal or natural persons, by subscription or/and pre-paid cards, emergency services, calling and called line identification services, customer relations and directory services, call barring and roaming services, etc.);
∙ tariffs for connection, use, maintenance, facilities and special tariff schemes, loyal client programs (bonuses, discounts, etc.), conditions and use of such facilities;
∙ additional products and services offered by the provider, value-added services, conditions of provision, activation and de-activation, pricing;
∙ types of technical maintenance services, access numbers to customer relation services and/or technical assistance service;
∙ standard contractual conditions, including minimal contract duration;
∙ cases subject to compensation and procedure or amounts to be reimbursed to users as a result of non- compliance with contractual clauses;
∙ procedure of dealing with users complaints, provider - end-user dispute resolution; 
∙ if appropriate, end-user’s rights in relation to universal service provision. 

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III. Advice for Public Telephone Service Users

1. End-users of subscription-based fixed/mobile telephony services shall have the right to request, whereas the providers of such services shall make the following information available, separately per categories of end-users and per type of subscription: 
a) standard commercial conditions, including the minimal contract duration, if appropriate, conditions of contract modification, interruption or termination ahead of time;  
b) fixed/mobile network connection fee and fixed telephony service installation fee, if appropriate;
c) lead-time for telephone installation, if appropriate, or lead-time for mobile service startup;
d) monthly subscription fee;
e) other additional monthly fees (tariffs for leased equipment etc.), if appropriate;
f) number of minutes originally included – where appropriate, as well as time intervals, call destinations(local, long-distance, international (fixed telephony), national and/or international (mobile telephony)) and the telephone networks for which they are valid;
g) number of minutes, other facilities periodically or occasionally offered as bonuses, etc., conditions and manner of their use;
h) tariffs for national calls in relation to destination/called network (in the same network – local, long-distance calls (fixed telephony), in the same mobile network (mobile telephony), to (other) public mobile telephony services, to (other) public fixed telephony networks, to other types of networks), specifying available networks;
i) tariffs for international calls depending on destination zones/areas;
j) tariffs for SMS and MMS services, depending on (national/international) destination, where appropriate;
k) available destinations and tariffs for services used in roaming (calls received, originated, SMS, MMS) depending on selected network, time interval (if appropriate), also depending on destination (in the visited country, in the origin country, in a country other than the destination or origin country);
l) tariff application (per second, per minute etc.) per call category;
m) terms, ways and means of paying bills;
n) conditions for network access service suspension and re-connection;

2. End-users of mobile/fixed telephone services using pre-paid (SIM) cards shall have the right to request and the service provider shall make available the following information:
1) categories of fixed telephone services accessible to end-users by means of pre-paid cards;
2) for every pre-paid fixed telephone services, the following information shall be made available:
a) types of cards by price and initially included minutes;
b) credit validity term;
c) tariffs applied (per second, minute, etc.) for every category of calls, if appropriate;
d) tariffs for national calls in relation to destination/called network (in the same network – local, long-distance calls to mobile networks, to other fixed telephony networks, to other types of networks), specifying available networks, and depending on day/week time of the call, if appropriate;
e) tariffs for international calls, in relation to call destination zones/countries;
f) number of minutes, other periodically or occasionally offered facilities, bonuses, conditions and their use;
3) for every type of pre-paid SIM card the following information shall be provided:
a) initially included minutes;
b) credit validity term;
c) SIM card validity term and conditions of validity extension;
d) face value refill cards available and credit validity per card;
e) tariff application (per second, per minute etc.) for every call category, if appropriate;
f) tariffs applied for national calls, depending on called destination/network (in the same mobile network, to other mobile networks, to other fixed networks, to other types of networks), specifying available ones, also depending on day/week time of the calls;
g) tariffs for international calls, in relation to call destination zones/countries;
h) tariffs for SMS and MMS services, depending on (national/international) destination, where appropriate;
i) destinations available and tariffs applied to services accesses in roaming (received and originated calls, SMS, MMS services) depending on the selected network, time interval (if appropriate) and on destination (in a visited country, in the origin country or a country other than the two);
j) number of minutes (credit value), as well as any other facilities periodically or occasionally offered as bonuses, etc. conditions and use;
k) description of SIM card refilling methods;

3. Voice message services offered, activation - deactivation methods, tariffs applied for activation, to voice message calls and for access to voice messages;

4. Promotional offers in progress, conditions and validity period, if appropriate.

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IV. Advice for Users of Internet Access Service

The final users of such services shall have the right to request, whereas the providers shall make the following information available:

1. Lead-time for network connection/service startup;

2. For subscription-based non-dedicated Internet access (dial-up), per category of users and per type of subscription:
a) standard contractual conditions, including minimal contract duration, if appropriate and conditions of contract modification, suspension or rescission ahead of time;
b) monthly fee per type of subscription;
c) tariff for network connection and/or service startup;
d) additional equipment necessary for access to Internet and prices;
e) number of hours/volume of subscription-included traffic (traffic limit);
f) tariff for additional traffic (exceeding the number of hours/ volume of subscription-included traffic), itemized depending on day/week time of the Internet access, if appropriate;
g) information regarding the provider – party to a contract for telephone network access services and applicable tariffs (for example, tariffs for special Internet access, tariffs for local calls within the provider’s telephone network);
h) bill payment terms, methods and means (where the tariffs are given in a currency other than the one for payment, the exchange rate shall be provided; where average exchange rate is applied, it shall be mentioned);
i) numbers of access to the telephone network in order to use Internet access services;
l) where the billing is handled by different providers, the bills shall specify which providers, the billed services, and the billing method; 
k) conditions of suspension and reconnection of Internet access services.

3. For non-dedicated Internet access based on pre-paid cards, per type of card:
1) types of pre-paid cards and price per type;
2) For every type of pre-paid card:
a) tariff for network connection, if appropriate;
b) number of hours (credit) included in the price;
c) credit validity period;
d) numbers for network access;
e) tariffs depending on day/week time of Internet access, if appropriate.

4. For dedicated access (DSL), the providers shall make the following information available per end-user category and per type of subscription:
a) tariff for network connection/service installation, with breakdown per elements;
b) additional equipment necessary for dedicated access to the internet and monthly fee for their use/lease;
c) monthly fee, with indication of the situations when the tariff is conditioned by acquisition of a service package;
d) traffic included in subscription (traffic limit);
e) tariff for additional over-subscription traffic;
f) tariffs depending on day/week time of Internet access, if appropriate;
g) bill payment terms, methods and means (where the tariffs are given in a currency other than the one for payment, the exchange rate shall be provided; where average exchange rate is applied, it shall be mentioned);
h) account security ensuring methods;
i) packages of integrated services, including dedicated Internet access services and conditions of provision;
j) conditions of suspension and reconnection of Internet access services.

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