The National Assembly adopted on first reading two out of three bills for amendments to the Electronic Communications Act. On first reading, the bills submitted by the Council of Ministers and by MP Martin Dimitrov from "Continuing Change-Democratic Bulgaria" received support. "For" the bill submitted by the Council of Ministers was voted by 117 MPs, 18 were "against" and 11 - "abstained". The bill submitted by Martin Dimitrov was voted by 143 votes "for", zero -"against" and one - "abstained".
The plenary hall rejected proposals by Bozhidar Bozanov for amendments to the Electronic Communications Act with 52 votes "for", 22 - "against" and 82 - "abstain".
Half a year after mobile operators once again unilaterally increased the prices of their contracts, the parliament finally woke up and began to take measures to protect consumers. Today, the deputies adopted amendments at first reading to the Electronic Communications Act, which allow telecom customers to terminate their contracts in the event of indexation, without owing any penalties.
The proposal was submitted by deputies from the PP-DB, led by Martin Dimitrov. According to their bill, approved today, any contract "may be terminated in the event of a unilateral increase in the contract prices due to indexation or other reasons by the enterprise with a notification from the end user sent no later than one month after the date of receipt of the first invoice including increased prices".
The contract will be considered terminated from the date of receipt of the notification from the relevant telecom. The user will not be liable for compensation for having requested the contract to be terminated, unless he/she has purchased an electronic device at a discount from the telecom. If operators do not comply with these provisions, they will be subject to financial penalties of BGN 5,000 to BGN 100,000.
The report of the leading transport committee states that the bill, submitted by the Council of Ministers, aims to bring Bulgarian legislation into line with the requirements of the European regulation on the single market for digital services. At the European level, a European Digital Services Council has been established, and each EU Member State should designate a national authority to perform the functions of a national coordinator for digital services, the report says.
The proposed amendments regulate the powers of the Communications Regulatory Commission (CRC) as a coordinator for digital services, which will exercise control over the activities of providers of intermediary information society services that are not video-sharing platforms, the report says. The Council for Electronic Media has been designated as a competent authority within the meaning of the European regulation, which will control the activities of providers of intermediary information society services that are video-sharing platforms, the report also says.
The amendments proposed by MP Martin Dimitrov provide for the possibility, in the event of unilateral indexation of prices under contracts for the provision of electronic communications services by providers, for end users to be able to cancel them without penalty. According to the submitter, this measure could also increase competition between mobile operators.
The bill amending and supplementing the Electronic Communications Act, submitted by Bozhidar Bozhanov and a group of MPs, aims to guarantee the right to mobile number portability, regardless of who terminated the contract with the mobile operator. The bill was rejected by the plenary hall.
During the debates, MP from "Vazrazhdane" Emil Yankov stated that both bills submitted by MPs have a good idea for the benefit of consumers. He pointed out that Martin Dimitrov's bill proposes that there should be no penalty upon termination of the contract. I call on everyone to support this bill as well, said the MP. However, he expressed concerns about the bill proposed by the Council of Ministers, indicating that the proposed amendments will lead to censorship. "This is definitely a bill that leads to censorship," said Yankov.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Grozdan Karadjov responded that this bill neither imposes nor is able to impose censorship. Bulgarian citizens enjoy constitutional protection of their right to express their opinions freely. This bill aims to ensure the full implementation of the Digital Services Act on the Single Market for Digital Services. Here it is already clear what this bill is about. We regulate online intermediaries and platforms such as electronic marketplaces, social networks, content sharing platforms, electronic stores and applications, and online travel and accommodation platforms, explained Minister Karadjov. According to him, the amendments will regulate the relationship between the end user and the electronic platform. We are threatened by a criminal procedure, which is already underway and is in its second stage. That is why I call for the very rapid adoption of these changes that we are proposing, Karadjov added.
In addition to the fact that the regulation is directly applicable, the requirement for Bulgaria is to create an effective control mechanism, he added. According to him, the CRC assumes the powers of such a national authority under the regulation, which is called the coordinator of digital services. For video sharing, such a coordinator will be the Council for Electronic Media, explained Karadzhov. He specified that the provisions govern the certification of bodies for out-of-court resolution of disputes between providers of online platforms and recipients of services. I emphasize again, this is entirely in favor of the Bulgarian consumer, of Bulgarian citizens and has nothing to do with censorship or freedom of expression, said Minister Karadzhov.