Has your operator also raised the prices for services or taken out the TV station?

Ms. Magda was angered by the recent increase in prices for telecommunication services. Mr. Peter can no longer watch his favorite TV station because his operator has stopped broadcasting it. They both turned to the Telecommunication Union of the Slovak Republic with questions about whether operators can make changes without their consent and whether, if they do not agree with the changes, they can withdraw from the contract without a contractual penalty for early termination of their commitment.

The telecommunications operator informed Ms. Magda that due to a change in the value added tax (VAT), the prices for her telecommunications services would increase. Although the price had only increased by the amount of the increased VAT, Ms. Magda began to wonder whether she could withdraw from the contract with the operator without a penalty, even though she was still under contract. Peter’s telecommunications operator had stopped broadcasting his favorite TV station and started broadcasting another one instead. This change surprised and angered him.

The Telecommunications Union of the Slovak Republic explains that changes to the terms and conditions may also occur during the period during which the customer has committed to using the services from the operator, i.e. during so-called contractual commitment. According to the Electronic Communications Act, the subscriber (operator's customer) has the right, when the operator changes the contractual terms and conditions, to withdraw from the service provision contract within one month from the date of notification of the change in the contract without sanctions, i.e. without a contractual penalty. However, the Act also stipulates that this does not apply in the case of changes to the contract that: a) are exclusively administrative in nature, b) do not have a negative impact on the customer, c) are exclusively for the benefit of the customer, d) result from a special regulation (e.g. from a change in the law).

In Ms. Magda's case, the operator did not change the price. Only the amount of VAT changed, which resulted from a special regulation, which in this case is the Value Added Tax Act. According to the Electronic Communications Act, Ms. Magda does not have the right to withdraw from the contract without sanctions in this case. In Mr. Peter's case, the operator no longer broadcasts his favorite television station, because it is no longer available for the Slovak market and the terms of the contract do not allow the operator to continue broadcasting it. The operator broadcasts another television station instead. On the one hand, the Telecommunications Union of the Slovak Republic understands Mr. Peter's disappointment, but on the other hand, it is a fact that telecommunications operators cannot guarantee the broadcasting of specific television stations for the entire duration of the contract, which is why they usually do not bind themselves to this in the contract. This is also the case with Peter's operator, which is why Mr. Peter does not have the right to withdraw from the contract without sanctions. In general, we can state that during the term of the contract, changes may occur in the distribution of television stations for various reasons and the telecommunications operator is not always able to influence these changes. Changes may occur for various reasons, e.g. that the original station has stopped broadcasting or is no longer available for the Slovak market, it has low viewership and the operator replaces it with a more interesting one, the fees for its distribution have increased disproportionately, etc. In such cases, the service provider usually replaces it with another television station.