Termination of the Electronic Communications Service Contracts
The possibility of a unilateral termination of electronic communications service contracts is a real issue. It allows end users to change operator/provider and thus take full advantage of the competitive environment specific to the electronic communications sector.
Therefore, the termination of electronic communications service contracts receives particular attention from the legislator. Thus, the relevant legal provisions define the terms and conditions for terminating electronic communications service contracts. They also prohibit any practice or clause likely to hinder the possibility of unilateral termination that subscribers have in principle.
Notwithstanding the successive legislative amendments made in 2012 and 2021 aiming in particular at limiting the amount of the termination fee, the termination of electronic communications service contracts remains confrontational and causes each year a large number of complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman for Telecommunications.
At first glance, the problems identified concern both the terms and conditions of termination and the actual handling of termination requests by the operators or providers of electronic communications services.
In addition to this first category of issues directly following the termination, consumers also face difficulties related to the termination of their subscription. This is the case with the residual value due following the termination of a subscription linked to a joint offer or repeated procedures imposed on the beneficiaries following the death of the subscriber.
Professional subscribers are also likely to experience difficulties following the termination of their subscription. These difficulties generally regard the determination and the amount of the termination fee or even to the costs relating to the rental of equipment and, more particularly, telephone exchanges.
A third and final category of problems and difficulties arises from the post-termination obligations imposed on subscribers and operators/providers of electronic communications services.
It is important that end users are able, depending on their needs, to opt out of a particular service or even potentially change operators if they so wish.
In this regard, informing end users, whether about the terms of termination or the practical or financial consequences resulting therefrom, remains paramount. Indeed, many complaints about the termination of electronic communications service contracts lodged to the Office of the Ombudsman stem from a lack of information, mainly to the detriment of subscribers.
Finally, as regards professional subscribers in particular, certain commercial practices (penal clauses, renting of terminal equipment) have a deterrent effect and appear to be a real obstacle to terminate a contract or change operator/provider.