Services of electronic communication, internet and other electronic services
Complaints for electronic communication services
As in buying products, when buying services it is possible to make complaints. For electronic communication this usually applies to the use of mobile phones or landlines, cable TV or internet service providers.
Legislation can be found in law no. 127/2005 Sb. concerning electronic communication.
Complaints can be made about the quality of provided services as well as the way of billing. If the complaint is justified, the provider is obligated to remove the defects and/or after the agreement with the customer and provide a replacement service or adequately decrease the price of the service (e.g. the customer cannot use the internet connection temporarily).
The complaint must be made immediately, at the latest within two months of the defective provision of the service (or from the billing of the service). The provider is obligated to settle a claim within a month – if the provider is from abroad, the period is two months.
Making a claim has no suspensive effect i.e. when customer makes complaints about the bill he has to pay for it unless he agrees with provider otherwise. If the required sum is paid and the complaint is found justified, consumer has the right to get the overpayment back in a month after settling a claim unless he agrees with the provider otherwise.
Even when you make a complaint about billing, it is necessary to pay it. A refund will be made after the claim is settled.
If the consumer is convinced that the provider has not settled the claim correctly, he can appeal to the Czech Telecommunication Office with an objection against settling the complaint within one month at the latest from receiving settlement of the complaint or from the day of the end of the contract.
The consumer´s submission to the Czech Telecommunication Office must include information about:
- who are parties of the dispute
- what is the substance of the dispute,
- what the consumer demands
The submission includes an obligation to pay for the relevant administrative fee.
Consumer´s right to end the contract for electronic communication early
The consumer’s rights to end a contract are wider than in 2013. Even when the customer is committed to pay for services for an exact time period according to the contract, he can end the contract. As a penalty for this the provider can ask the consumer to pay one fifth of the monthly fees outstanding to the end of the agreed time period, and an additional payment for a device lent to consumer.
The provider of mobile services is limited by the fee which the provider can require for the consumer’s early termination of a contract.
Example:
A consumer concluded a contract for 24 months with a telephone operator with a monthly fee of 500 Kč. For this he was allowed to buy a mobile phone for half of the price. If the consumer decides to end the contract after two months, the provider can require a maximum of 2,200 Kč, – (i.e. 1/5 of 22 times 500) and then an additional payment for the mobile phone.
If the contract was concluded for a definite period which is always extended when the consumer does not terminate the extension in advance, the operator is obligated to inform the consumer about the possibility of ending the contract, 3 months in advance at the earliest or at the latest one month in advance.
Before the automatic extension of a contract you must be informed about this by the operator.