Ancom - Procedura litigii intre furnizori

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Disputes between providers on obligations in the electronic communications field

The providers of electronic communications networks or services may appeal to ANCOM in case of a dispute with other providers of electronic communications networks or services regarding the obligations imposed on them under the normative acts regulating this sector, i.e.:

Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011 of 14 December 2011 on electronic communications, approved with amendments and completions by Law no. 140/2012, with the subsequent amendments and completions
The EU regulations in the electronic communications sector
The secondary legislation issued by the Authority

How can I appeal to ANCOM?

With a view to settling a dispute before ANCOM, the plaintiff shall submit a written complaint. The complaint shall be submitted to the ANCOM Registry Office, sent by the postal service with Advice of delivery or by fax, alongside sending the complaint in original.

The complaint must contain information regarding:

a) the parties and their identification data, and, where the plaintiff is represented, the representative’s name and the corresponding power of attorney;

b) object of the dispute – the plaintiff shall specify the obligations from the above-mentioned legislation, related to which the dispute arose;

c) de facto statement – the plaintiff shall provide as many details as possible, including relevant documents showing the parties’ efforts in order to amicably solve the dispute (correspondence copies, reports of the meetings between the parties, draft contracts/addendums etc.);

d) de jure statement – the legal provisions grounding the complaint;

e) how the plaintiff is affected by the dispute;

f) the solution or the measures proposed by the plaintiff in order to settle the dispute;

g) the specification on whether a request on the same object, same cause and between the same parties has been brought before a Court of Law;

h) the signature of the plaintiff or of its mandated representative, and seal, as the case may be.

The complaint will be sent in two copies and will be mandatorily made by filling in the standard-form.

The settlement procedure for disputes between providers of electronic communications services or networks

After registering the complaint, depending on the object and complexity of the dispute, the ANCOM president will designate a commission in charge of settling the dispute.

To this end, the Commission will invite the parties before it, communicating the meeting date at least 5 days prior to the respective date. The number of meetings will differ from case to case, depending on the complexity of the dispute.

Upon analysing all the pieces of information and upon hearing the points of view expressed by the parties, when the Commission deems to have all the data required to settle the dispute on the merits, it will draw up a preliminary solution to be communicated to the parties. Any of the parties may address the Commission, within 10 days from the communications of the preliminary solution, with a review request. Where deemed necessary, the Commission will launch a call for hearing the parties’ points of view on the aspects raised by the review request.

With a view to settling the dispute, the ANCOM President issues a Decision. This Decision shall be issued within 4 months from the date of submitting the complaint to ANCOM. Under exceptional circumstances, for the proper settlement of a dispute, this term may be extended by an ANCOM President’s Decision.

The Decision may be challenged at the Bucharest Court of Appeal – Administrative Contentious Section – within 30 days from the communication date, without undergoing the preliminary procedure provided in Article 7 of Administrative Contentious Law no. 554/2004, with the subsequent amendments and completions.

Normative acts regulating the settlement of disputes between providers

The procedure for the settlement of disputes between electronic communications networks or services providers is regulated by the Government Emergency Ordinance No. 111/2011 and by Decision no. 480/2010 on establishing the procedure for the resolution of disputes within the competence of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications.