Minimum Level of Itemization: The Basics for Fixed Telephony

According to the Regulatory Authorities, there are two levels of information of charges provided with an itemized bill; the minimum level of itemization and the enriched minimum one. Both are offered for free by the Telecommunication Operators.

The Minimum Level of Itemization (MLI)

As far as the fixed telephony is concerned, the minimum level of the itemization includes the following mandatory information:

• The Outstanding Balance (i.e. the balance of the account stemming from the previous invoices) 
• The Recurring Charges (i.e. standard fees being paid on a monthly basis) 
• Aggregated information for the prepaid usage within a recurring charge, i.e. information about the calls included into a recurring fee paid in advance, such as: 
• Total number of calls 
• Total actual duration 
• Total billed duration 
• Call Category (on-net local, on-net long-distance, international, mobile, off-net fixed, incoming & outgoing roaming calls, short-digit calls etc)
• Total number of calls per Multimedia Content Provider for providers being served by the Telecommunication Operator’s network, or per Network Provider for calls towards providers being served by Other Licensed Operators (network providers).
• On the same page, there must be a footnote indicating the fact that the total billed duration is often different from the actual one, due to several tariff characteristics like the minimum charge or the charge step; for example 20 second minimum charge even if the call duration is 5 seconds or charge per minute even if the call duration is less or greater than integer minutes. In the case of a modification of any of the aforementioned tariff characteristics, the changes must be explicitly depicted upon the invoice, i.e. the unit prices before and after as well as the exact date of the change in question. 

• Aggregated information for usage outside the prepaid usage, i.e. information about calls not included into a recurring fee paid in advanced, such as: 
• Total number of calls 
• Total actual duration 
• Total billed duration 
• Call Category (on-net local, on-net long-distance, international, mobile, off-net fixed, incoming & outgoing roaming calls, short-digit calls etc) 
• Total number of calls per Multimedia Content Provider for providers being served by the Telecommunication Operator’s network, or per Network Provider for calls towards providers being served by Other Licensed Operators (network providers). 

• Detailed information regarding any financial discounts or penalties applied, such as the service activation fee, the service disconnection fee, the outgoing call barring fee, the Call Line Identification Presentation fee and other debit or credit adjustments.

The Enriched Minimum Level of Itemization (EMLI)

As far as the fixed telephony is concerned, the minimum level of the itemization includes all the previously mentioned information and on top of that the following mandatory details:

• Detailed  information for the prepaid usage within a recurring charge, i.e. information about the calls included into a recurring fee paid in advance, such as: 
• The itemization of the calls, the duration of which exceeds the 2 minutes time. This itemization includes the following information per call:

• The called number
• The date & time stamp of the call
• The exact time when the call started
• The actual duration of the call, referring to the footnote with respect to the billed duration
• Call Category (as previously defined)

• Aggregated information for chargeable calls with billed duration less than 2 minutes time (total number of calls, total actual & total billed duration.) 
• Detailed  information for the prepaid usage outside a recurring charge, i.e. information about the calls not included into a recurring fee paid in advance, such as: 
• The itemization of the calls, the charge of which exceeds the 10 eurocents VAT excluded. This itemization includes the following information per call:
• The called number
• The date & time stamp of the call
• The exact time when the call started
• The actual duration of the call, referring to the footnote with respect to the billed duration
• The charge of the call
• Call Category (as previously defined)
• Aggregated information for chargeable calls with charge less than 10 eurocents (total number of calls, total actual & total billed duration, total charge.) 
• Itemization of calls towards Multimedia Content Providers irrespectively of charge. In this case, the name of the Multimedia Content Provider for providers being served by the Telecommunication Operator’s network, or the name of the Network Provider for calls towards providers being served by Other Licensed Operators (network providers), must be clearly specified.

Other Additional Information

• All subscribers will receive the MLI, unless they explicitly state otherwise
• The provision of the EMLI will take place only upon subscriber’s request
• Primarily, both MLI and EMLI will be provided in a paper form along with the subscriber’s invoice. The subscriber is allowed to ask for their provision in an electronic form; for example the subscriber may very well wish to get the information through his/her e-mail or by accessing Operator’s site using the appropriate credentials (user_id & pin).