The system for providing and publicising telephone lines for consumers to contact has been in force for a year and ASAE has already started imposing fines on those who don't comply. Penalties can reach up to 3,000 euros.

As of 1st June this year the decree-law no. 59/2021 The new law, published on 14 July, regulates the provision and dissemination of telephone lines for consumer contact. It was established that suppliers of goods and services and organisations providing essential public services (such as electricity, water, telecommunications or electricity) must provide a free or low-cost customer helpline.

If you have only value-added lines (numbers beginning with 7, 808 or 30) you must also add one of the options mentioned above.

Companies providing essential public services, on the other hand, are obliged to provide a free customer helpline or start with dialling 2 or 9.

Other providers of goods and services are not obliged to have a telephone contact line for consumers. But if they do, they must also have a free or low-cost option.

In addition, all organisations that provide customer service lines are obliged to publicise the customer service number, as well as the price of the calls, on the various means of contact with the consumer (website, invoice, contracts, emails, etc.).

However, the call may vary depending on the tariff and operator, so alternatively the cost of the call can be replaced by:

Call to national fixed network (callsigns beginning with 2);
Call to national mobile network (dialling codes beginning with 9).

What are consumer helplines?

These are telephone lines designed to help consumers contact their supplier with issues related to the sale of a good or the provision of a service, such as technical problems and assistance, invoicing, payments, renewal or cancellation of services.

Any telephone line whose number begins with 800 is free of charge to the user.