Telephone, cell phone and Internet contracts: Important new customer rights

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1. On December 1, 2021, the amendment to the Telecommunications Act (TKG) will come into force – and will bring a number of improvements to customer rights in telephone, Internet and cell phone contracts. These include

   * Right to reduce and terminate contracts if bandwidth is too low,

   * compensation in the event of complete telephone and Internet outages if the provider does not rectify the fault within 2 working days,

   * shorter notice periods,

   * Contracts that were previously concluded over the phone must be confirmed by the consumer in text form (e.g., via e-mail) if a contract summary was not provided to them prior to conclusion of the contract.

   The new regulation for fiber optic connections, on the other hand, is a deterioration for consumers: According to this, in case of doubt, all tenants must pay for a fiber optic connection to the building, even if they do not use it themselves.

   The “right to fast Internet” is also important. However, the law lacks a minimum bandwidth that defines the specific entitlement. This has yet to be defined, so it remains to be seen whether the right will actually benefit consumers, especially in rural areas where connections are still very slow in some cases.

   We provide a compact overview of important changes.

   ## Understandable summary before signing a new contract

   In the future, providers must give you a contract summary in text form (e.g., a PDF by e-mail or in printed form) before you sign a telephone contract (for fixed-line, Internet, and/or mobile access).

   This must explicitly state:

   * the contact details of the provider,
   * essential features of the individual services to be provided,
   activation fees,
   * and the term as well as conditions for renewal and termination.

   If this information cannot be handed over when the contract is concluded (this is likely to be the case, for example, if you receive offers over the phone), the provider must provide you with this summary immediately after the contract is concluded.

   In addition, there is a further protective mechanism in these cases: you must subsequently approve in text form such a telecommunications contract that has been concluded on the phone, for example, without you having received a contract summary beforehand. Until then, the contract is, as lawyers say, “pending invalid”.

   This means that if you do not give your approval for the contract, it has not become effective. The provider then does not even have any claims against you if it has switched to the new services immediately after the telephone call. You do not have to pay for this. If the summary sent to you shows that the contract is not suitable for you, you can still easily reject it at this point.

   The background to this is that those affected regularly report to consumer advice centers about contracts being foisted on them over the phone and unexpectedly expensive services. This should no longer be possible in the future due to the new regulations.

   ## Contract term and termination

   As before, new contracts may be concluded for up to 24 months. However, there will no longer be automatic extensions after this initial term, which can only be terminated after a further 12 months. If, for example, you have not said after the 24 months whether you want to cancel or how you want to continue the contract, then you can get out of an automatically extended contract at any time with one month’s notice.

   Phone, Internet and mobile contracts that keep automatically renewing for long periods of time will thus be a thing of the past.

   ## Your rights if the provider changes the contract

   Providers can unilaterally change the contract with you under certain conditions. In such a case, you can terminate the contract without notice in the future.

   There are only a few exceptions to this: If, for example, the changes are exclusively to your advantage or are of a purely administrative nature and have no negative effects; it is also conceivable that the provider is legally obligated to make the contract changes. The provider must prove such an exception.

   Providers must notify you at least one and no more than two months before the change. You may give notice of termination within three months from the date of this information and at the earliest for the date on which the change becomes effective. You may not be charged any costs for the termination (one exception: if you keep terminal equipment from the contract, e.g. a smartphone purchased cheaply with the mobile contract).

   ## Information on the optimal tariff every year

   Providers are constantly changing their rates – and they don’t always inform their existing customers. As a result, some customers remain in an expensive old tariff, while the provider has long since offered more favorable conditions and a change would be easy.

   The telecommunications amendment now requires providers to inform you once a year about the optimum rate based on the current rate. And the provider must not do this exclusively over the phone.

   ## Options for termination or reduction

   The telecommunications amendment gives you options for reacting when the provider’s services are poor. You can then terminate the contract without notice or reduce your payments to the extent that the services are restricted.

   If you are not provided with the promised bandwidth and your Internet connection is regularly or particularly clearly too slow, the law provides options for termination and reduction.

   You must provide evidence of this restriction. For many people, the speed of the Internet connection is the most important factor here. To prove this, you can currently use the broadband measurement of the Federal Network Agency.

   Another new feature: If you move to a new place of residence and your current provider does not offer the service there, you can terminate the contract – with one month’s notice. You can give notice in advance so that it takes effect when you move out.

   You also now have stronger customer rights in the case of offer packages (e.g., mobile connection combined with a smartphone). If you can terminate a component of the package because the provider has not complied with the contract, then in many cases you can also terminate the entire package at the same time.

   ## Compensation in the event of disruptions to the connection

   In the event of a fault, consumers have the right to have the fault rectified quickly. If this takes longer than one calendar day, the provider must inform you.

   From the 3rd calendar day after receipt of the fault report, you are even entitled to compensation in the event of a complete failure of the telephone and Internet connection:

   * **for the 3rd and 4th day**: 10% of the contractually agreed monthly fee, but at least 5 euros

   * **from the 5th day**: 20% of the contractually agreed monthly fee, but at least 10 euros.

   In addition: If the provider misses customer service or installation appointments, you are entitled to 20% of the contractually agreed monthly fee, but at least 10 euros.

   ## Legally protected entitlement to fast Internet

   Even with the new law, consumers still have a right to be provided with telecommunications services. The law now also includes a legally protected entitlement to high-speed Internet.

   How useful this section of the law is for consumers (especially in rural areas) will depend very much on the minimum bandwidth required. This is not specified in the law and has yet to be defined.

   ## Provider change and number portability

   If you change your telephone, Internet or mobile communications contract to a new provider, the new provider will handle the change of provider and number portability. Make sure that the old contract does not cause any problems when you switch, e.g., because the contract term is far from over.

   Your old provider must continue to provide the same services after the end of the contract until the successful transfer and may charge a maximum of 50% of the agreed connection fee. This means that you remain reachable by telephone or connected to the Internet until the successful switch.

   * If the service is interrupted for more than one working day, you are entitled to compensation for each additional working day – 20% of the agreed monthly charge, but at least EUR 10.

   * In the event of a failed number portability, you are entitled to compensation of 10 euros for each additional day from the second working day after the agreed portability day.

   In addition: If the provider misses customer service or installation appointments, you are entitled to 20% of the contractually agreed monthly fee, but at least 10 euros (see also previous point).