It’s called Electronic Communications Law (LCE), and its new version came into force on November 14, 2022. But as stated by ANACOM (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações), but only on January 13, 2023, some rules became mandatory.
These relate to the amounts payable in the event of early cancellation of contracts with NOS, Vodafone, MEO or NOWO. Below we explain what ultimately changes.
As ANACOM states in the video below, “the loyalty period must be provided for in the contractual information as well as in the contract summary”. And there is another monthly detail to take into account.
In the invoices you receive every month, the time remaining for the terminal loyalty period must appear. And if you want to cancel in advance, the amount to be paid must be specified.
In case you didn’t know, a loyalty agreement can be for a maximum of 6, 12 or 24 months. But operators should also have available the option of service without loyalty.
In what situation can you cancel the contract before the end of the loyalty period without any non-compliance costs?
if you move permanently to an area where the operator does not provide the contracted service or an equivalent; if you emigrate; if you are permanently or temporarily incapacitated for work (over 60 days), which implies a loss of available monthly income.
Please note that if you signed a contract after November 14, 2022, the rules have changed. If there is no contractual justification for this early cancellation, charges may never exceed the amounts below.
The value of the advantage given to the consumer in return for the loyalty period (for example, discounts on the monthly fee, offer of the cost of installation, equipment rental), proportional to the time left to fulfill the loyalty period. A percentage of the monthly fees to be paid, if applicable whether it is an initial loyalty period or a re-loyalty period in which there is a change in the installation. In these cases, the amount to be paid corresponds to 50% of the monthly fees to be paid, if the cancellation occurs in the first year of the contract; or 30% of tuition if it occurs in the second year.
Practical example of amounts payable in contract cancellation
Let’s imagine that you have an initial contract of 24 months and there are only 6 months left to finish it. And the operator offered the installation for €300, with a monthly payment of €50.
ANACOM explains that “For the value of the advantage conferred (equivalent to €300 for the installation), you would have to pay €75. As for the percentage of monthly fees, since the cancellation occurs in the last year of the contract, you would have to pay 30% of the value of the missing monthly fees until the end of the contract, that is 90 €. Now with these accounts you would have to pay €75, which is the lowest of the amounts, for 6 months in advance of canceling your contract”.
If your contract was concluded before November 14, 2022, “the charges for early cancellation of the loyalty contract must correspond to the value of the benefit conferred to the consumer (for example, the cost of the installation) in proportion to the time has yet to be fulfilled”.
This means that the value cannot “exceed the costs that the operator had with the installation”. And it also cannot “automatically correspond to the sum of the amount of monthly fees to be paid until the end of the loyalty period”.
The best advice that can be given is to always confirm the value of the benefits offered by the operator in the contract. And if the contract was made over the phone, you can ask for the call to be recorded.
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