Those who sign contracts with TV program distributors by examining the packages only risk having unpleasant surprises if they decide to terminate the contract before time. Most of the distributors levy contract termination taxes that can amount to 1,500 lei, depending on the operator and package. The National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) said the contract termination taxes are a legal practice and these are applied in other states as well. The persons must attentively read the clauses before signing the contract.
A market analysts by IPN’s reporter shows that the highest contract termination taxes in Chisinau municipality are applied by Starnet, which does not have separate TV packages as these also include Internet services. The contract is valid for minimum two years. If the client terminates the contract earlier, this must pay a tax of 1,500 lei.
The national operator Moldtelecom offers TV packages with a contract period of at least two or three years, depending on package. The termination of the contract before time, regardless of its term, entails a tax of 750 lei for packages with equipment that enables to receive HD TV channels as well.
The contracts for TV packages provided by Sun Communications, the second largest operator after Moldtelecom, are valid for two years, while the contract termination payment is 250 lei at the first stage and gradually lower after the first connection year.
In a response to an inquiry by IPN, the National Regulatory Agency said the contract termination taxes are an international practice. These are charged by providers in order to recover the costs for the equipment provided to the client.
The end-user has the right to terminate the signed contract before the initial minimum term expires without having to pay penalties of damage only when the provider unilaterally modifies the clauses of the contract or the conditions of providing and using the service to the detriment of the end-user. In this case, the signed contract is terminated at the end of the invoiced period, not later than the date when the given amendments announced by the provider take effect.
According to ANRCETI, the provider cannot collect from the end-user a tax higher than the real value of the damage caused by terminating the contract. At the same time, the way in which the damage is determined is not specified.
The Agency’s regulations concerning the provision of public electronic communications services stipulate that the providers are obliged to furnish the public with detailed, clear and updated information about the applied prices and tariffs and the other conditions of providing and using services so as to enable the end-users to consciously choose the networks and services.
According to the most recent data provided by ANRCETI, SA “Moldtelecom”, SRL “Sun Communications” and SRL “TV BOX” are the largest pay TV providers with a market share of 29.6%, 26.2% and 10.2% respectively. The cumulative share of the other 83 providers is 34%. Statistics show the number of subscribers to pay TV services has decreased during the last few years. In the third quarter of 2014, there were 282,000 subscribers, while in the third quarter of 2016 the figure declined to 271,000.
