📋 Tender Overview
Public consultations on the draft Electronic Communications Law are primarily aimed at working out optimal changes in the fees charged to telecommunications operators. These fees have not been changed for many years and are inadequate to the current market situation.
At the same time, significant fee increases have been designed in the bill in such a way that they do not translate into a sharp increase in the costs of telecommunications services borne by citizens.
The draft of the Electronic Communications Law proposes to link the telecommunications fee to the average salary – in this way, the fees will increase along with the condition of the Polish economy, and not stand still as it has been so far.
The draft submitted for consultations with the market in February this year assumed an increase in the telecommunications fee by 400%, from 0.05% to 0.25%. In the course of negotiations, the Ministry of Digital Affairs accepted some of the entrepreneurs' arguments and proposed an increase in the annual telecommunications fee ratio at the level of 0.15% - which is an increase of 200% compared to the current state (which has not been changed since 2004).
The proposed regulation also increases the number of telecommunications companies obliged to pay the telecommunications fee eightfold in relation to the draft sent for consultation.
The annual telecommunications fee will be payable by entrepreneurs whose revenues from telecommunications activities in the previous financial year were one thousand times the average salary in the national economy in the previous calendar year, as indicated in the announcement of the President of the Central Statistical Office, referred to in Article 20(1)(a) of the Act of 17 December 1998 on Pensions and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (Journal of Laws of 2023). items 1251, 1429 and 1672). For 2023, it would amount to PLN 7,155,480, i.e. only telecommunications companies whose revenue from telecommunications activities in 2023 would exceed PLN 7,155,480 would be obliged to pay the telecommunications fee for 2024 (according to data after revenues for 2022). Before the consultations, this amount was eight thousandth of the salary.
This is almost twice as high as the threshold in force in the current act, which is PLN 4 million. In addition, it is worth repeating that this threshold will automatically increase with the change in the average salary.
In 2024, the fee is paid by almost 300 entities. According to the current draft, this would be only about 200 entities, while according to the draft sent for consultation, it was only about 30 entities.
The Act only sets the upper limits of fees, while their actual amount will be determined only by the Regulation of the Council of Ministers.
