New user rights apply starting 4 July and HAKOM will increase its supervision over operators

ZAGREB, 1 July 2016 – The Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) would like to remind users that the provisions of the amended Ordinance on the manner and conditions for the provision of electronic communications networks and services apply starting Monday, 4 July, and that these provisions will introduce new user rights and operator obligations. Therefore, as of Monday amended rules apply to distance and off-premises selling. Since the last amendments of the Consumer Protection Act adopted in October of last year, which are under the competence of the Ministry of the Economy, particularly regulated distance and off-premises selling, HAKOM additionally regulated these ways of selling services in order to clarify them for users of electronic communications. Furthermore, procedures of all operators engaging in this type of sales will be aligned and contain the necessary information and notices in order to avoid situations in which users were not sufficiently informed when deciding on purchasing a certain service. This applies to the entire contracting procedure, from the sales itself to the subsequent confirmation that must be delivered by the operator to user’s home address. Furthermore, in order to completely avoid cases of fraud and identity theft when concluding subscription contracts where perpetrators’ main objective is to obtain expensive devices and leave the “subscription” to the user whose identity has been stolen, devices will be delivered only to the user’s address.
 
Other user rights and operator obligations include in particular the publication of terms and conditions and prices on the operator’s website. Furthermore, if the operator offers the possibility of online conclusion of contracts, the manner of termination of the contract must be clearly indicated and it must include the possibility of online or electronic termination.
 
Concerning defects, HAKOM noticed that there were many cases in which the repair lasted too long, especially when it was the responsibility of the operator providing the service. For that reason it introduced the following user right and operator obligation:  all defects on equipment provided by the operator for use by the user or leased for the duration of the contract (e.g. modem) must be removed within the maximum of 5 days. If that is not the case, the user shall be entitled to terminate the contract without paying the early termination fee. The user shall also be entitled to a reduced monthly bill because it is not reasonable to be deprived of Internet access and TV channels only because the operator has not been able to deliver the new equipment as a replacement for the defective equipment. The above-mentioned regulations do not refer to defects on the telephone line which HAKOM will deal with differently while users will always receive a reduced bill proportionate to the duration of the defect.  
 
The operator obligation to ensure the minimum broadband speed of at least 70 percent of the maximum contracted speed, and the obligation to offer to users, in case of defects lasting more than 24 hours, the ability to pay a reduced amount of the bill or some other type of compensation, without the user having to complain about the amount of the bill, will apply as of 1 January 2017.