Some Notes About the Protection of the Essential Public Services User

David Falcão

Keywords

Essential public services; electronic comunications; protection of the user; suspension of the service for non-payment; prescription; lapse.

Abstract

In the present study we dedicate ourselves to make an analysis of the Law of Essential Public Services, giving a special focus to the mechanisms of protection of the user of such services. If it is true that, on the one hand, it has not been doctrinally peaceful to qualify contracts for the provision of essential public services as public or private law agreements, on the other, and consequently, the question of where to bring legal action arising from disputes that oppose the provider and the user, therefore, we will try to answer that question. Having made a general analysis of the user protection mechanisms, we focus on issues related to the suspension of the service for non-payment, establishing a parallel between the regimes of the Essential Public Services Law and the Electronic Communications Law. Finally, we will address the issue of prescription and lapse periods related to the right to receive the price of the service provided. At this point we will try to give an adequate answer regarding which prescription period to resort whenever the service is provided by a local authority (8 years or 6 months).

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Object and Scope of the Essential Public Services Law
3. Legal Guardianship of the User
4. Suspension of Service Provision
5. Prescription and Lapse of the Right to Receive the Service Provided
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Jurisprudence