Contract Summary Template: Questions and Answers

The contract summary is a standardised one page sheet (for one service) or up to 3 pages (for a bundle) provided to every consumer and other users, such as microenterprises, of electronic communications services prior to the conclusion of the contract. It includes a concise and easily readable presentation of the main information that service providers are required to provide to consumers, such as provider's contact details, description of the service, speeds of the internet service, price, duration, renewal and termination of the contract and features for end-users with disabilities.

No, but it provides a summary of the important information that providers must give to consumers before concluding the contract.

The implementing regulation includes a summary template, which provides a number of items and instructions for service providers on how to complete it. However, some of the items are to be given only where applicable. For example, if a service does not include an internet service, details on speeds of the internet services cannot be given and are not required either.

The European Electronic Communications Code and general consumer protection legislation sets out consumer information requirements that apply to providers of publicly available electronic communications services. The contract summary aims to help providers to better present information about the main elements of the contract, so that consumers can better compare different offers for communications services prior to the conclusion of a contract. Comparison will become easier as all providers will inform consumers about the same main elements of the contract in a uniform manner.

The purpose of the contract summary is to enable consumers to make well-informed choices. It does not include all terms and conditions of a specific contract. It does not mention all rights and obligations of the parties according to Union law and national law. For example, the consumer may have the right to terminate the contract for reasons other than the ones mentioned in the summary, such as in the event that the service provided is not in conformity with the contract.

The electronic communications service providers must make available the summary to every consumer prior to the conclusion of the contract. The summary may be provided in a similar way as the contract can be concluded. For example, on paper in a shop or online.

The contract summary is provided as part of, for example, an online offer or paper contract in a shop in order to facilitate choice and comparability between different offers for consumers. It does not need to be separately signed by the consumer.

The summary includes main elements of the information that providers must provide the consumer before conclusion of the contract (pre-contractual information). The contract shall become effective when the consumer has confirmed agreement after reception of the summary. Once the contract is concluded, the pre-contractually provided information as well as the contract summary constitute an integral part of the contract.

According to the European Electronic Communications Code, the contract will become effective when the consumer has confirmed his or her agreement after reception of the contract summary.

The contract summary is to be provided for both post-paid and pre-paid offers of the relevant electronic communications services.

In addition to consumers, the contract summary should be provided to microenterprises, small enterprises and not-for-profit organisations, unless they have explicitly agreed not to require the summary, as set in the European Electronic Communications Code.

As the Electronic Communications Code does not regulate this matter, Member States may maintain or introduce in their national law language requirements regarding contractual information to be provided by providers of electronic communications services.

As one of the new improved consumer protection measures, the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) introduced the requirement to provide a contract summary for consumers. The European Electronic Communications Code empowers the Commission to adopt an implementing act establishing a template for the summary.

No. The implementing regulation is part of the updated EU telecommunications rules, the European Electronic Communications Code, and is based on these rules. The implementing regulation does not establish new requirements, but specifies how the summary is to be provided and the main elements to be included in the summary, based on the European Electronic Communications Code.

The instructions for completing the contract summary template in Part B of the Annex state that the contract summary shall be dated. The regulation does not give further rules concerning the date. The date can thus reflect the date of the latest version or the date when it was provided to the end-user.

The Regulation does not specify a particular section where the date should be inserted. However, the requirements on the presentation of content (Article 2 of the regulation) have to be followed, including presenting the content in a way that is easily readable and understandable for consumers.

The Regulation does not prohibit the use of tables. However, the use of tables is to comply with the obligations set in the regulation, for example Article 2(2) on the order of headings that is to be maintained.

The Regulation requires (Annex Part B) that under the section 'Price' any time-limited discounts shall be indicated. Recital 14 indicates that where a promotional price applies, this should be clearly indicated, including the period that the discount is valid and the full price without the promotion. The requirements on the presentation of content (Article 2 of the regulation) have to be followed here like elsewhere in the summary, including presenting the content in a way that is easily readable and understandable for consumers.

The Regulation requires including in the contract summary the recurring price per month. Where this concerns a bundle of more than one service the Regulation does not require to indicate the price per item in the contract summary. However, it should be noted that the full pre-contractual information to be given to consumer before a consumer is bound by a contract requires the provision of the prices of the individual elements of a bundle to the extent they are also marketed separately (Directive 2018/1972 on the European Electronic Communications Code, Article 102(1) and Annex VIII B. I. (2) (v).