Law no.239/2005 on the amendment and completion of several normative acts in the field of communications

 

The Parliament of Romania adopts this law.

 

 

Art.I. – Article 51 of the Government Ordinance no.31/2002 on postal services, published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no.87 as of February 1, 2002, approved, with amendments and completions, by Law no.642/2002, shall be repealed.

Art.II. – Government Emergency Ordinance no.79/2002 on the general regulatory framework for communications, published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, no.457 as of June 27, 2002, approved, with amendments and completions, by Law no.591/2002, with the subsequent amendments and completions, shall be amended and completed as follows:

1. Paragraph (1) of Article 3 shall be repealed.

2. Paragraph (6) of Article 4, shall be followed by a new paragraph, paragraph (7), which shall read as follows:

„(7) The persons who intend to provide electronic communications networks or services exclusively for their own needs shall be exempted from the obligation of sending a notification. The rights and obligations provided in the general authorisation shall be enforced accordingly.”

3. Paragraph (1) of Article 41 shall read as follows:

„Art.41. – (1) The financing of the ANRC current and capital expenses is ensured entirely from the following sources:

a) the monitoring tariff due, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII1, for the activity of surveillance and control in the field of electronic communications and postal services carried out by ANRC;

b) the numbering resources usage tariff, due in accordance with Art. 19 paragraph (2) herein;

c) other revenues which ANRC may obtain in accordance with the provisions of the normative acts in force.”

4. Articles 47 and 48 shall be repealed.

5. Chapter VIII shall be followed by a new chapter - Chapter VIII1, which shall read as follows:

„CHAPTER VIII1

The Monitoring Tariff

Art.481. – (1) The persons who, on December 31, each year, have the quality of a provider of public electronic communications networks, a provider of publicly available electronic communications services or a provider of postal services shall pay to ANRC an annual monitoring tariff for the next year, calculated as a percentage from the turnover of each provider.

(2) The percentage referred to in paragraph (1) shall be determined each year, without exceeding 0.5%, as the ratio between:

a) the expenses estimated for the current year, provided for in the budget approved according to Art. 42, amount from which the revenues provisioned from other sources, as provided for in the approved budget, shall be deducted, and

b) the cumulated turnover of all the persons provided under paragraph (1).

(3) The turnover represents the sum provided in the annual statutory financial accounts, drawn up for the year before that for which the estimated monitoring tariff is due.

(4) In cases these providers of electronic communications networks and services or of postal services cease activity before the end of a calendar year, the turnover shall be calculated in proportion to the number of days when they benefited from the right to provide electronic communications networks or services or postal services.

Art.482. – (1) The amount of the monitoring tariff owed for one year shall be estimated on July 15 of the respective year, in proportion to the turnovers for the previous year.

(2) Once the monitoring tariff for the current year has been determined, ANRC shall regularize the amounts due as the monitoring tariff for the previous year, thus establishing the final tariff, in proportion to the turnovers obtained by the persons obliged to pay the monitoring tariff for the respective year, as provided under art.481 paragraph (1). For the persons who have not submitted ANRC the annual statutory financial accounts containing the turnovers required for the determining the final monitoring tariff, this shall be calculated based on the turnovers for the year before that for which the monitoring tariff is due.

Art.483. – (1) The payment obligation for the monitoring tariff shall be set out by Decision of the ANRC president, which shall be communicated in writing to each provider.

(2) The estimated monitoring tariff shall be paid in two equal instalments, the first within 30 days from the date when the Decision is communicated, and the second until December 31st of that year.

(3) The difference between the final monitoring tariff and the estimated monitoring tariff shall be paid or refunded, as the case may be, according to the procedure provided under art.485.

(4) The monitoring tariff and the numbering resources usage tariff are budgetary receivables, undergoing the corresponding provisions of the Government Ordinance no.92/2003 on the Fiscal Procedure Code, republished, with the subsequent amendments and completions.

Art.484. – (1) The persons provided under art.481 paragraph (1) are bound to transmit to ANRC a copy of their annual statutory financial accounts, containing the turnovers required for determining the definite or estimated monitoring tariff, as the case may be, within 5 days from the expiry of the date of their deposit with the territorial units of the Public Finance Ministry.

(2) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of art.481 paragraphs (1) and (2) letter b), the persons provided under art.481 paragraph (1) may require the consideration of their incomes resulted from the provision of electronic communications networks or services, or from the provision of postal services, instead of the turnover provided under art.481 paragraph (3).

(3) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of paragraph (2), the persons provided under art.481 paragraph (1) shall keep separate accounts for the activities associated with the provision of electronic communications networks or services or - as the case may be - with the provision of postal services, to the extent that would be required if these activities were carried out by legally independent companies. Their financial reports shall be certified by an independent, legally authorised auditor, in accordance with the conditions established by ANRC.

(4) The provisions of art.481 paragraph (4) shall be enforced correspondingly for the incomes resulted from the activities associated with the provision of electronic communications networks or services or of postal services, determined according to paragraphs (2) and (3).

Art.485. – The procedure of enforcing art.481-484 shall be established by Decision of the ANRC President.”

 

6. Article 51 shall read as follows:

„Art.51 – (1) ANRC and MCTI have the right to request the providers of electronic communications networks or services or the providers of postal services the information required for exercising the attributions provided by this emergency ordinance sau by the special legislation in the field of electronic communications or of postal services.

(2) The information provided under paragraph (1) may be requested by ANRC and MCTI, especially for the following purposes:

a) control the enforcement of the provisions of this emergency ordinance, of the special legislation in the field of electronic communications or of postal services, or of the legal obligations imposed by ANRC and MCTI in accordance with these legal provisions;

b) establish the annual monitoring tariff, in accordance with the provisions of chapter VIII1;

c) establish the contributions for financing the services within the scope of universal service;

d) designate the universal service providers and impose on these providers the obligations provided in the special legislation in the field of electronic communications or of postal services;

e) identify the relevant markets in the sector of electronic communications, conduct market analyses and identify the providers with significant market power, in accordance with the provisions of chapter V;

f) impose on the providers of electronic communications networks or services with significant market power the obligations provided in the special legislation in the field of electronic communications;

g) grant licences for the use of the numbering resources and control the observance of the obligations provided therein;

h) settle the disputes between the providers of electronic communications services, between the providers of postal services, between users and the providers of postal services, as well as between the end-users and the providers of electronic communications services;

i) elaborate clearly defined statistics, required in the exercise of the ANRC and MCTI attributions, granting a term of minimum 30 days for the respective data collection;

j) elaborate reports, studies, analyses and other such documents, in the fields of electronic communications and of postal services, in order to assess the necessity and opportunity of issuing new regulations and to supervise and control the implementation of the regulations in force;

k) publish comparative statements on the quality and tariffs of services, with a view to maximising the benefits of the end-users.

(3) While exercising its duties, IGCTI has the right to require the providers of electronic communications networks and services information needed for the control of their compliance with the obligations provided by this emergency ordinance, by the special legislation in the field of electronic communications or by IGCTI in accordance with these legal provisions.

(4) The information provided under paragraphs (1) and (3) shall be requested in writing and on reasonable grounds, while its quantity and nature must be in proportion to the purpose for which it was requested.

(5) The providers of electronic communications networks or services and the providers of postal services have the obligation to provide the requested information, other than that under paragraph (2) letter i), within the term and in the conditions indicated by ANRC and MCTI or IGCTI, as the case may be.”

7. Letter h) of article 55, paragraph (1), shall be followed by a new letter, letter h1), which shall read as follows:

„h1) breach of the obligation to submit the annual financial accounts to ANRC, within the term provided under art.484 paragraph (1);”.

8. Paragraph 1, letter a) of article 56 shall read as follows:

„a) to provide full and accurate information requested according to the provisions of art.51 or of art.54 paragraph (1);”.

9. Paragraphs (1) and (4) of article 58 shall read as follows:

„Art.58. – (1) The assessment of the contraventions provided under art.55 paragraph (1) letters a), b), d) and f)-h1) shall be performed by the control personnel provided under art.53 paragraph (1).

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(4) The sanctions for the deeds provided under art.55 paragraph (1) letter a), b), d) and f)-h1) shall be enforced, through written notice, by the ANRC President.”

Art.III. – This law shall enter into force within 3 days from the date when it is published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, excepting the provisions of art.I, of art.II points 3, 4, 7 and 9, as well as of art.II point 5, regarding the insertion of articles 481-484 in the Government Emergency Ordinance no.79/2002. These shall enter into force on December 31, 2005.

Art.IV. – The Government Ordinance no.31/2002 on postal services, approved with amendments and completions by Law no.642/2002, and the Government Emergency Ordinance no.79/2002 on the general regulatory framework for communications, approved with amendments and completions by Law no.591/2002, with the subsequent amendments and completions, as well as with those brought by this law, shall be published in the Romanian Official Journal, Part I, re-numbering the text sections.