26.01.2024

In 2023, ANCOM carried out 3,579 control actions to ensure the enforcement and observance of the legal provisions and of the regulations imposed by the Authority to promote competition on the markets for electronic communications and postal services and to protect the users’ rights and interests. Following these control actions, ANCOM issued 171 notifications and applied 742 warnings and 446 contravention fines, amounting LEI 2,857,000. This amount is revenue to the state budget.

Electronic communications market

Last year, ANCOM conducted 2,020 control actions in the electronic communications market, issuing 171 notifications, 248 warnings and 177 contravention fines amounting LEI 1,778,500.

The Authority applied 132 contravention fines totalling LEI 1,376,500 to telephone service providers. Most fines were applied for operators’ breaching of their obligations regarding the conclusion of contracts with end-users, for failure to comply with the roaming, carrying out of the porting process, transmission of unilateral notification following the modification of contracts concluded with the end-users. The highest fine, amounting to LEI 40,000, was applied for the provision of electronic communications services without a valid subscription contract in accordance with the legal provisions.

In 2023, ANCOM completed a campaign aimed at checking the compliance by prepaid/postpaid mobile telephony service providers with the legal provisions on number portability. At national level, 164 controls were carried out, which resulted in 16 contravention fines amounting LEI 160,000 in total.

ANCOM applied 2 contravention fines totalling LEI 20,000 to internet service providers for providing electronic communications services without a valid subscription contract in accordance with the legal provisions.

10 contravention fines totalling LEI 96,000 were also applied to the providers of radio and TV broadcasting (RTV) services, mainly for non-compliance with the technical data, parameters or conditions contained in the technical authorisations.

CATV network providers were sanctioned with 23 contravention fines totalling LEI 211,000, most of them applied for non-compliance with the conditions stipulated in the general authorisation regime. The highest fine, i.e. LEI 35,000, was applied for the provision of electronic communications services without a valid subscription contract in accordance with the legal provisions. In the radiocommunications field, 10 fines totalling LEI 75,000 were applied for use of frequencies without a valid licence or for non-compliance with the technical and operational parameters of the radio stations. The highest fine, i.e. LEI 30,000, was applied for non-compliance with the licence conditions, namely with the obligations regarding the coverage with electronic communications services.

Radio equipment and electromagnetic compatibility market

In the radio equipment and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) market, ANCOM carried out 1,046 control actions, applying 428 warnings and 220 contravention fines totalling LEI 807,000. The highest fine amounted LEI 30,000 and was applied for placing on the market equipment intended to disrupt or to prevent the normal operation of communications using radio frequencies (jammer equipment).

As for EMC, the largest fine, amounting to LEI 20,000, was applied to a manufacturer for failure to display the CE marking on the equipment.

Postal services market

On the postal services market, ANCOM carried out 513 control actions in 2023, following which 66 warnings and 49 contravention fines were applied, amounting to LEI 271,500. The most frequently found breach concerned the non-compliance with the obligations imposed by the general authorisation regime.

The main breaches found were the provision of postal services without a valid authorisation, failure to comply with the choice of delivery of the postal items to the addressee, failure to observe the content of the delivery notice cards, non-provision of postal services and failure to mark/label the postal items.