ZAP // Digi; Vodafone; Meo; NOS
Customers will also be compensated for delays, according to new rules – which will take some time to come into effect.
As telecommunications operators will not be able to charge direct charges for portability cell phone number and customers will become competitivensados for the delaysaccording to new rules that come into force on November 10th.
“The changes to the regulation on number portability aim to strengthen consumer protection”, an official source from the National Communications Authority (Anacom) explained to Lusa, following the publication in Diário da República, on Thursday, of the new rules for the process that allows the number to be kept when changing operator.
Of the changes introduced, after the document was placed for public consultation in September 2024, a source from the regulator highlights “the prohibition on companies charging direct charges for portability to end users holding contracts associated with the numbers”.
The introduction of new compensation for customers for not complying with the scheduling of “physical intervention on the network”, which requires it to be rescheduled for another day, is another of the points highlighted.
The value of this compensation was fixed in 10 euros in the new regulation, but Anatel warns that this compensation will only be paid by the provider, that is, the new contracted operator, “when the non-compliance is not due to reasons attributable to the end user”.
Among the changes made, piggybacking on the changes resulting from the Electronic Communications Law (LCE), the entity led by Sandra Maximiano also highlights the obligation of the receiving provider (PR) to ensure that the portability and the subsequent activation of numbers occur on the date expressly agreed with the customer “in the shortest possible time and up to one business day from that date”.
Furthermore, “in the event of termination of the contract, and unless this right is waived at the time of deactivation of the service, the end user maintains the right to carry PNN numbers [Plano Nacional de Numeração] to another company”, he adds. This is one of the changes that goes beyond the current Electronic Communications Law. While it stipulates that this right remains for a minimum period of one month, the specific regulation for portability states that it remains for three months.
Other changes introduced to the portability regulation that do not result from the entry into force of the LCE are aimed at companies in the sector, namely wholesale cost limitation that operators can pass on to competitors for the service. Now, it has a maximum value of around euros.
