The German parliament has adopted new legislation requiring telephone and internet providers to inform their customers about contract limits and network performance. Under the new Transparency Regulation, originally proposed by the Federal Network Agency, telephone and internet providers will need to inform customers about the nature of contract terms before any agreement is made. Each customer invoice will be required to list the minimum term and notice period for the contract.
The new law also requires providers to publish information on the data transfer rate agreed in the contract, as well as the connection quality which is actually delivered. Customers should be able to find this information with minimal effort, according to the regulations. Providers also need to make customers aware of the option to test their network connection, including the offer by the Federal Network Agency to measure their network performance.
The German federation of consumer protection agencies VZBZ welcomed the legislation as a “positive step” but called for more to be done. In particular, the VZBZ noted that customers had no straightforward mechanism to terminate their contract if their suppliers did not meet the contractual requirements and urged the government to require a termination clause.
