Subsection 4: Performance of the contract

Any draft amendment to the contractual conditions shall be notified by the electronic communications service provider to the consumer, in a clear and comprehensible manner, on a durable medium at least one month before it comes into force. The same draft shall inform the consumer that, if he does not accept the new conditions, he may terminate the contract at no cost and with no right to compensation within four…

The consumer may terminate the contract, free of charge, in the event of a significant, permanent or frequent discrepancy between the actual performance of an electronic communications service, other than an Internet access service, and the performance stated in the contract. Where, pursuant to the previous paragraph, a consumer terminates a contract for a publicly available electronic communications service before the end of the contractual period, no compensation may be…

Any sum paid in advance by the consumer to a supplier of electronic communications services shall be returned to him, subject to payment of any outstanding invoices, at the latest within ten days of payment of the last invoice.The return, by a supplier of electronic communications services, of sums paid by the consumer by way of a guarantee deposit shall be made at the latest within ten days of the…

Where an electronic communications contract including a clause imposing compliance with a minimum performance period has been subscribed to by the consumer, the invoices drawn up by electronic communications service providers shall mention the remaining duration of the commitment or the date of the end of the commitment or, where appropriate, mention that this minimum contractual performance period has expired.

No charges for rejected payments may be levied by an electronic communications service provider on consumers who are in a vulnerable situation, particularly in view of their resources.

A contract giving access to the Internet or to a voice communications service may be terminated, in advance, by a consumer who has made an application for treatment of over-indebtedness deemed admissible under the conditions laid down in Articles L. 711-1 and L. 721-1 to L. 721-7. In application of the first paragraph of this article, the consumer may not be charged any compensation corresponding to the amounts due for…

The provisions of this Article shall apply to any electronic communications service provider offering the consumer, directly or through a third party, an after-sales service, a technical assistance service or any other service responsible for handling complaints relating to the performance of the contract concluded with that provider, and accessible via a voice communications service within the meaning of 7° of Article L. 32 of the French Post and Electronic…

The period of notice for termination by a consumer of an electronic communications services contract may not exceed ten days from receipt by the supplier of the request for termination. The consumer may, however, request that such termination take effect more than ten days after receipt by the supplier of his request for termination.

Where a fixed-term contract for electronic communications services provides for its automatic extension, the consumer shall have the right to terminate the contract at any time from the date of the extension, subject to a period of notice which may not exceed ten days, and without incurring any costs other than charges for receiving the service during the period of notice. Prior to the automatic extension of the contract, suppliers…

Bills for the supply of an electronic communications service are presented by suppliers in accordance with the procedures laid down by an order of the Minister responsible for consumer affairs, issued after consulting the National Consumer Affairs Council.