ANACOM Floats Compensation of Up to €5,750 for Botched Internet-Provider Switches
Under a proposal now in public consultation, consumers who lose service when switching internet or phone provider could claim €23 a day, up to €5,750 per switch, with the incoming operator made responsible for the whole process. The rules are not yet in force.
Anyone who has ever been left without internet for days while switching provider knows the frustration. Portugal's telecoms regulator now wants to put a price on that inconvenience. Under a proposal opened for public consultation, the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (National Communications Authority, or ANACOM) would give consumers the right to financial compensation when a change of operator goes wrong — with payouts reaching as high as €5,750 for a single botched switch.
The proposed scheme is tiered. A delay beyond the agreed transfer date would entitle the customer to €3 per service, per day. A genuine loss of service during the switch would be worth far more — €23 per service, per day of interruption, capped at €5,750 per switching request. And a failed physical installation, such as a technician who does not turn up and forces the appointment to be rescheduled, would carry a €10 penalty. Because a typical household package bundles several services, those daily amounts can add up quickly.
Just as important as the money is a change in who bears responsibility. Under the proposal, the incoming operator — the one the customer is moving to — becomes responsible for managing the entire switch, rather than the process being split awkwardly between the old and new providers. Consumer and operator would have to agree a specific transfer date or a maximum timeframe up front, and the customer could ask for that date to align with the notice period on their existing contract, closing the gap that so often leaves people without a connection in between.
The measure stems from Portugal's Lei das Comunicações Eletrónicas (Electronic Communications Law, Law 16/2022), which transposes European rules designed to make switching easier and less risky. It is not yet in force: the proposal is out for public consultation until 11 September 2026, after which ANACOM must formally approve a final version before any of the compensation rights take effect.
The backdrop is a steady stream of complaints about the friction of changing telecoms provider in Portugal, a market dominated by a handful of large operators. Reforms in recent years have already made number portability free and obliged companies to discount days without service from the bill; this latest step would go further, attaching a concrete cash value to the disruption a mishandled switch causes and shifting the incentive firmly onto operators to get transfers right first time.
For expats, who often set up or change home internet and mobile contracts soon after arriving, the practical advice is to follow the outcome of the consultation and, once any rules take effect, to keep a clear record of the agreed transfer date and of any interruption. Should the proposal pass, a provider switch that leaves you offline would no longer be simply an aggravation to absorb but something the incoming operator could be required to pay for. Until then, the existing protections — free portability and pro-rata refunds for lost service — remain your main safeguards.
