Cabinet approves limiting telecom exit fines

Exit fines limited for all telecommunications services: TV, Internet, fixedline telephony and international calls services.

By YOSSI NISSAN/GLOBES
Bezeq Israeli Telecommunications Corp. (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimksi)
Bezeq Israeli Telecommunications Corp.
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimksi)
The cabinet unanimously approved on Sunday a bill by Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon to limit exit fines for all telecommunications services: cable and satellite TV, Internet services, fixedline telephony, and international calls services.
The exit fine for mobile telephone service was abolished last year.
The bill is part of a wider measure aimed at reducing barriers for subscribers to switch companies and giving customers the right to choose. The Communications Ministry supervises the implementation of telecommunications policies and laws on behalf of consumers.
After already abolishing mobile exit fines, Kahlon turned his attention to abolishing all exit fines in the industry.
Under the bill, a telecommunications provider cannot charge a subscriber for canceling their service contract during the commitment period more than 8 percent of the average monthly service bill times the number of months remaining in the commitment period.
The bill will also apply to the companies’ current subscribers.
With approval by the ministerial legislation committee, the bill will now go to the Knesset for its first reading. It will then go to the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, before being returned to the Knesset plenum for its second and third readings.