The Telecommunications Act, issued by Royal Decree No. M/12 dated 12/3/1422 H, aims to regulate the telecommunications sector in accordance with a number of objectives that include:

• 1. The provision of advanced and adequate telecommunications services at affordable prices;

• 2. The provision of access to the public telecommunications networks, equipment and services at affordable prices;

• 3. Ensuring clarity and transparency of procedures as well as principles of equality and non-discrimination; and

• 4. Safeguarding the public interest and the user interest as well as maintaining the confidentiality and security of telecommunications information.

This document is issued in order to achieve these goals, and in accordance with the regulatory tasks assigned to the Commission under the Telecommunications Act, the Telecommunications Bylaw and the Commission Ordinance, taking into consideration the needs of the Kingdom’s evolving ICT markets, and after studying the international best practices in this field.

The words and expressions contained in this document have the meaning assigned to them in the Commission statutes unless the context requires otherwise. The following words and expressions shall have the meaning assigned to them hereunder:

• 1. “Additional services” means a set of optional services or features that users may subscribe to in addition to subscribing to a basic package, as these services are not offered by the service provider as separate services.

• 2. “Address” means the national address of the citizen, resident, or a public or private legal person, identified by the relevant authority and which has all the statutory implications of reporting, or the address specified by the user in the absence of a national address.

• 3. “Amendments to the contract that are not in the interest of the user” means any amendment that results in reducing, decreasing, restricting, or preventing the use or obtaining any of the advantages of the basic or additional services due to the user at the beginning of the service contract, or in adding any additional obligations for the user, or in cancelling the user’s basic package.

• 4. “Business user” means any juridical person among companies, commercial establishments and equivalent entities, that uses or requests ICT services.

• 5. “Complaint” means a user’s expression of his dissatisfaction with a service provider and/or any matter relating to one or more of his services, which is expressed by the user through a submission to this effect through one of the available complaint channels.

• 6. “Credit limit” means the maximum limit of total recurring and non-recurring service charges the user is requested to pay per billing cycle.

• 7. “Deposit amount” means the monetary amount requested by the service provider from the user according to the provisions of this document, to ensure his financial right towards the user.

• 8. “Emergency services” means the numbers specified by the Commission in its regulations as emergency numbers, which allow users to access them at no cost.

• 9. “Government user” means any juridical person among ministries, authorities, public institutions, councils, national centers and equivalent entities, that uses or requests ICT services.

• 10. “Individual services” means telecommunication services provided by a service provider separately or combined with other telecommunication services or together with other separate products

• 11. “International roaming” means a service that enables mobile users to use telecommunication services while visiting other countries or during traveling by air or sea.

• 12. “Invoice” means the document issued by the service provider, on a periodic and regular basis, every calendar month or in accordance with any other requirements under Commission statutes, which includes details of the financial charges that the user is required by the service provider to pay in exchange for the service / services provided to the user.

• 13. “Loyalty program” means the preferential benefits that a service provider provides to its customers.

• 14. “Minimum period of contract” means the minimum duration of a subscription to a service.

• 15. “Non-periodic charges” means the charges for telecommunication service/services, that appear on the invoice only as a result of using the service/services, which do not fall within the scope of periodic charges.

• 16. “Offer” means a permanent or temporary offer for subscription to a specific service or package offered by the service provider, including benefits other than those available in other existing packages or products.

• 17. “Periodic charges” means charges for telecommunication service/services that appear continuously on every periodic invoice, regardless of their actual use, and end only once the telecommunications service is terminated or cancelled.

• 18. “Personal information” means every statement - whatever its source or form – that would specifically lead to recognize the user, or make him directly or indirectly identifiable, including a name, personal identification number, address, contact details, license number, personal records and property, bank account number or credit card, a user’s static or animated image, and other data of a personal nature.

• 19. “Postpaid service (or invoiced)” means a service provided by the service provider that enables the user to use it in exchange for a fee paid after its use, based on the periodic invoice issued by the service provider.

• 20. “Prepaid service” means a service provided by the service provider that enables the user to use it in exchange for a fee paid before providing the service.

• 21. “Remaining balance” means the monetary amount remaining in the user’s account after the expiry of the subscription’s duration, including calling minutes or data and other unused and remaining services after the end of the subscription period.

• 22. “Restrictions on use” means restrictions or exceptions set by the service provider that restrict the consumption of any of the services. These limitations relate to quantity, time, and speed.

• 23. “Service termination” means the termination of a service provided to the user through termination of the subscription contract, upon his request, or through termination by the service provider under the terms of this service, or under a relevant instruction by the Commission.

• 24. “Service commencement date” means the date on which the service provider completes the establishment and operational availability of the service, so that the user can use it.

• 25. “Service suspension” means the temporary suspension of the service provided to the user at his request, or a suspension by the service provider in accordance with the terms of this service, or as directed by the Commission. It includes the suspension of all outgoing services except for emergency services and contact channels of the service provider.

• 26. “Service(s)” means electronic communications services between fixed, mobile or limited mobility devices and equipment in the public communication network.

• 27. “Service contract” means an agreement between a service provider and a user, under which the service is provided, which determines the terms, obligations and prices for that service and any modification thereof, and is documented through any means, specified by the Commission.

• 28. “Host service provider” means the service provider who owns the ICT infrastructure on which another service provider relies to provide his services.

• 29. “Settlement” means the amount deducted by the service provider from the amount due by the user, or reimbursed to the user as a result of the inability of the service provider to meet all or part of his obligations or of the service provider’s non-entitlement to the amount, or for other reasons, whether on the service provider’s own initiative, or based on a complaint from the user or on a decision by the Commission.

• 30. “Subscription duration” means the period of time during which a subscription remains in effect for a user of a particular service, under the same terms and conditions.

• 31. “Trial period” means a temporary period granted by the service provider to the user (in return for, or free of, charges) for the purposes of trying and/or testing its services and products.

• 32. “User account” means an account number assigned by the service provider to a user, to regulate the payments of financial obligations arising from the service(s) provided.

• 33. “User” means any natural or juridical person who uses ICT Services.

• 34. “User with disabilities” means a natural person with proof of a long-term, partial or total, physical, sensory, mental, communicative, psychological or intellectual impairment which may hinder its full and effective use of telecommunication services or associated (e.g., information) services on an equal basis with other users, without special needs.

1. The provisions of this document shall apply to all licensed service providers by the Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to all users of their retail telecommunication services.

2. The Commission shall perform a periodic review of this document, and shall effect any amendment or update of this document by a decision of His Excellency the Governor.

3. Service providers must comply with the implementation of the provisions of this document in all their dealings with users of telecommunication services. They may not impose or agree on, in their service contracts or otherwise, any exceptions to these provisions unless this is expressly allowed under this document’s provisions.

4. Where this document requires the execution of any written action, this can be executed electronically or automatically through automated systems, taking into account the acts, regulations and decisions regulating etransactions and any other statute issued by the Commission in this regard.

5. The provisions of this document shall be without prejudice to the rights of users and the obligations of service providers under any other Commission statute, and any regulations applied in the Kingdom.

1. Service providers must at all times provide across all their sales outlets, on their website, or any other channels used by them, clear, up-to-date and full information on their retail tariffs, which must be fully consistent with those offered in their service contracts with users. This information must be also consistent with the one provided to the Commission by the service provider whether in the process of notification or approval.

2. Service providers must provide clear and transparent information on the terms and conditions of any service packages they advertise or offer including, at least, the following:

• a. Clarifications about the method of subscription and cancellation of the service(s);

• b. Information about the outlets providing its services;

• c. The types of calls available in the package, for example, on-net or off-net, domestic or international, and whether these are limited to a particular contact group;

• d. The number of minutes granted for each type of call available in the package;

• e. Types of calls excluded from the package;

• f. The mechanism of dealing with the minutes, data amount, or the remaining balance in the package, and the availability or relaying or benefiting from them in the future;

• g. Validity or expiry of the balance, and the mechanism to determine the validity;

• h. Explanation of the number of minutes and/or the amount of data, and how to use the balance during or outside peak periods (in case there is a difference);

• i. Penalty conditions, if any;

• j. How to provide the service in case of the implementation of restrictions on use in terms of quality and availability of the service;

• k. The cases in which usage restrictions apply;

• l. Any limitations or restrictions on usage that affect the use of the part of / entire service available or its quality;

• m. The necessary means for users to enable them to follow up their use of the services and control them continuously;

• n. Clarification of the mechanism for applying a settlement with the user, in case the service provider is unable to meet the quality standards approved by the Commission or as stipulated in the service contract, if applicable.

3. The service provider shall be obliged to ensure the transparency and clarity of the information advertised through all promotional or advertising channels of any packages or offers of its services, and if there are any restrictions, or terms of use, or obligations related to them, they should be mentioned in the advertisement, in a way that does not mislead the user, and the service provider must also use its own approved trademarks in these communication channels.

1. The service provider may not engage in telemarketing its services or products for purposes of sales to the user without the user’s prior consent, and subject to the service provider’s compliance with the following obligations:

• a. To contact the user only through the official communication channels of the service provider;

• b. To record the communications taking into account any record-retaining requirements;

• c. To verify the identity of the call recipient and that he is the owner of the number in question, or the identity of its statutory representative;

• d. At the beginning of the call, the service provider’s representative should disclose his name, the service provider he represents, the reason for the call, and verify whether the user wishes to continue the call or not;

• e. To clearly explain the offered service, its advantages and its associated obligations;

• f. To disclose, during the communication, the full price of any product or service that is the subject of the communication;

• g. To document any request for the offered service according to the mechanism for activating and modifying of additional services and packages, set forth in Article number (9) of this document;

• h. To enable the user to block telemarketing free of charge, and at any time

1. A service provider may not impose any fees or charges on a service package or offer after a free trial period of the package or the expiry of the time specified for the promotion, unless the following conditions are met:

• a. Providing the user with a notice of the expiry date of the free trial period or the time specified for the promotion at least 24 hours in advance, so as to allow the user to take a decision on whether to continue or not.

• b. Obtaining the customer’s written request for the continuation of the package or the offer after the end of the free trial period or the time specified for the promotion, provided that the customer has been properly informed, is aware of and accepts all the terms of the service, and the related obligations and provisions.

1. Users of a service and their representative, if any, must be aged at least fifteen Hijri years. An application for establishing a service may not be accepted if it is made in the name of a person under that age, even if his legal representative exceeds that age.

2. A service provider may refuse to start providing a postpaid service to a user upon proof of his/her indebtedness to that same service provider or if the service provider has legitimate proof of that user’s indebtedness to another service provider, provided that this debt is not the subject of a still pending dispute or complaint.