Amendment to Act No. 374/2021 Coll., which amends Act No. 127/2005 Coll., on electronic communications and on the amendment of some related laws (Electronic Communications Act), as amended, and some other laws, is by a very extensive legal arrangement from the workshop of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The law is a manifestation of the transposition of the European Union directive on the electronic communications code. The key points of the amendment include the impact of the amendment on OTT services (such as WhatsApp), the prohibition of contacting the customer for the purpose of marketing communications, if he has not previously given his consent to the contact (the current opt-out regime replaces the new opt-in regime) or the strengthening of rights consumers in the telecommunications market.

At the same time, the amendment amends another fourteen laws, among which we can mention the Act on Health Services, the Act on Land Transport, the Act on Fire Protection, the Act on the Operation of Radio and Television Broadcasting, the Act on the Integrated Rescue System, the Act on Postal Services and others.

The law was promulgated on 18.10.2021 and will enter into force with exceptions on 1.1.2022.