‘Romanian law proposes contract termination without fees’

(DMeurope Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Romanian Parliament has passed a law under which clients of telecommunication operators who have not benefited so far from promotional offers may request the termination of their subscriptions without paying the penalties requested by operators, local daily business Ziarul Financiar reports. To become effective, the law needs to be promulgated by Romania’s president. The law is aimed at telecom operators, as well as all retailers and telecom services providers. At present, all Romanian mobile carriers request a penalty fee from subscribers who wish to give up their subscriptions before the end of their contracts. Orange imposes a fee equal to the value of the subscription multiplied by the number of remaining months in the contract, Vodafone charges a fee of EUR 150, while Cosmote demands a contract termination fee of RON 100 to 800, depending on the remaining period of the contract. According to the law’s creator senator Iulian Urban, the new legal framework will stop the “incorrect claim of contract termination fees from users who wish to end their internet and telephony contracts before the end of their contracts” and will lead to increased competition in the market. On the other hand, the association of mobile operators in Romania (Asociatia operatorilor mobili din Romania) believes that one of the decision’s possible negative effects could be “the dramatic reduction or even the disappearance of subscription offers sold along with low priced handsets”.