ANACOM has decided to recommend to operators that they do not charge customers for the period of time for which telecommunication services were unavailable because of fires. In cases where bills have already been sent out, operators must make the necessary adjustments, and in cases where bills have already been paid, credits must be issued for the amounts, issued in bills or to the customer's account. In any case, operators may not make provision for or require any future consideration.
In ANACOM’s view, it makes no sense for operators to burden populations and companies which were affected by the fires and which have already suffered high economic and social costs by charging them for a service which was not actually available to them.
While it is not in dispute that the suspension of services was not due to a voluntary act of the provider or due to an act attributable to the provider, there is also no question that the deprivation of services is likewise not attributable to subscribers and there is no justification for penalising subscribers with the burden of paying a service they did not enjoy.
However, the Lei das Comunicações Eletrónicas (Electronic Communications Law) does not establish any obligation to deduct days of non-availability of the contracted service from bills. Any discount given on the bill has to be assessed in the light of the legislation governing contracts. Therefore, the enforcement of these rights presupposes, in the first instance, a complaint to the service provider and, if the claim is not granted, recourse to the courts or consumer dispute resolution centres. In the vast majority of cases, however, filing such complaints has not been a priority of people who have been affected by the fires and who have been deprived of using telecommunications services. In view of this, ANACOM considers that service providers should arrange, upon their own initiative, adjustment of the amounts charged, performing what is considered to be, above all, an imperative of fairness.
Consult:
- Approval of recommendation on charging for services made unavailable as a result of fires https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1422343
