[:it]If a citizen remains without connectionand, can you claim damages from the telephone company?

This question was answered by the Justice of the Peace of Trieste with a recent ruling (GdP Trieste 30/7/2012 no. 587).

The case involved a family that was left without an ADSL connection for four months, who turned to the Justice of the Peace in order to claim compensation for the damages suffered. The judge ruled on the point, stating that "case law has long been oriented towards the view that the disconnection or failure to connect the telephone and Internet line constitutes pecuniary damage and existential damage for the contract holder and his family, damage considered particularly serious in an age when communication is fundamental to every aspect of daily life."

On the basis of this reasoning, the Judge has thereforeliquidated pecuniary damage resulting from non-fulfilment (having left the family disconnected for 4 months) by stating: "such a breach, although not precisely quantifiable economically, fulfils the conditions of thecan be fairly valued at € 1,600.00. "

The judge continued in his reasoning, also recognising the damage from "digital divide", i.e. damage of an existential nature characterised by the citizen's exclusion from the network. The lack of access to connectivity services generates, compromises the relational sphere, realising activities and different life habits.

On this point the Judge: 'somewhat difficult to carry out daily activities, difficulties constituting a prerequisite for granting the plaintiff compensation for the existential damage suffered as a result of the breach of contract by the telephone operator ....The assessment of the damage in the absence of objective criteria must be determined equitably at €800.00”

 

 

 

[:]