In order to give more effectiveness to consumer protection and promote the compliance of the contracts, the Law n. 10/2012, of January 28, approved some changes to the Public Services Law, to the Electronic Communications Law and to the Consumer Protection Law.

The Public Services Law now establishes that companies that provide public services should increase the service suspension notice from 10 to 20 days in case of non-payment.

The deadline of 20 days is also fixed to public and electronic communication services provided to subscribers that are not consumers in the event of non-payment of the invoice.

For subscribers that are consumers, companies should grant an additional payment period of 30 days through written notice within 10 days after the due date of the invoice.

Within 10 days after the additional deadline mentioned above, the companies should suspend the services for a period of 30 days, otherwise they could not charge the service to the consumer and they will be responsible for judicial costs owed ​​by charging the credit.

Finally, the Consumer Protection Law now requires that the supplier of goods and the provider of services in the negotiation stage or at the conclusion of the contract should inform the consumers about the consequences of not paying the price of goods or services.

The breach of this duty determines the responsibility of the supplier or service provider for the payment of court costs due ​​by charging the credit.

The Law enters into to force on April 28, 2013.