On 17 August 2013, new rules entered into force governing the selective barring of message-based value added services (VAS), including SMS (short message service) or MMS (multimedia messaging service) and audiotext services, as established under Law no. 42/2013 of 3 July.
All audiotext services (numbers beginning 607, 608, 646 or 648) will be barred by default and may be activated only upon written request by the subscriber to the telephone service operator.
Services which involve the sending of more than one message or the sending of messages on a regular or ongoing basis remain barred by default, as do services which have erotic or sexual content. In other cases, access is open, so that subscribers may, following the entry into force of these rules, submit a request to bar this type of service directly to their network operator, which shall fulfil the request without charge. The existence of a contract between the subscriber and the provider of the message-based value added service (VAS) is no impediment to this barring.
Barring must be implemented within 24 hours of the subscriber's request, made in writing or other durable support that's available and easy to use. After the implementation of the bar, no further costs can be incurred in relation to the service in question.
In the case of services which remain barred by default, access (selective or general) can only be activated by the respective subscriber upon request in writing or by other available durable support.
On its Consumers' Website, ANACOM has published a set of questions and answers which help explain these types of services, and also the procedures adopted for barring or de-barring access to this service. It is therefore ANACOM's aim to ensure that users are properly informed about their rights.
Consult:
- Pergunte à ANACOM - Portal do Consumidor https://anacom-consumidor.pt/pergunte-anacom#_48_INSTANCE_SP52PIfTru64_=http://anacom-consumidor.inbenta.com/?
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Law no. 42/2013, of 3 July https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1168216
