The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (the Regulator) has adopted the Rulebook on the obligations of operators transmitting value-added services and providers of value-added services („Official Gazette of RS“, No. 30/25, hereinafter: the Rulebook), which shall enter into force on April 14, 2025.

This Rulebook regulates in more detail the obligations of operators that transmit value-added services (VAS) and value-added service providers  in terms of advertising services, conditions for the start and end of value-added service provision to the end-user, methods of calculation and billing for services, methods of processing personal data, traffic and location data, control of illegal content and resolution of complaints, taking particular care to protect the interests of end-users.

VAS services include paying for parking, donating money to charity, voting via SMS, etc. However, taking into account that VAS SMS fraud has been occurring for years, the primary goal of this Rulebook is to protect users from possible fraud and abuse.

It is important to emphasize that mobile operators are not providers of VAS services, but only transmit them. They are obliged to, in line with technical capabilities, enable the availability of the service to end-users from all public electronic communications networks, in accordance with the law, regulations and mutual agreements.

The Rulebook emphasizes that according to the contract concluded between the operator and the service provider, both contracting parties are obliged to respect the principles of non-discrimination and transparency.

Abuse of the service, within the meaning of this Rulebook, is considered to be the organization of quizzes and similar games in which prizes are promised that are never awarded or are won by a person associated with the organizer of the prize quiz, as well as false notifications or advertising campaigns that initiate a subscription to the service, or similar. Abuse of the service is also considered to be the organization of quizzes and similar games that are charged by time, where a telephone call is made, but communication with a voice machine, announcer or host in a television or radio program is never established, or in which a connection is established, whereupon information is received about waiting to be included in the program, but the inclusion never occurs.

When advertising its services, the service provider is obliged to publish the price of the service, or all its parts, and the method of payment in an appropriate and easily understandable manner.

The Rulebook also stipulates that the service must not allow the end-user to be deceived by providing wrong, incomplete or other inaccurate information that may mislead him, nor conceal information that the end-user needs to make a decision on using the service.

The provision of the service must be preceded by the entry of a password (OTP – One Time Password), which represents reliable evidence of the end-user's consent to use the service. Users are warned that there are frequent abuses of activating VAS services through the application, without entering a password. If the user receives a message about the service being activated without the user requesting it, it is necessary to log out immediately in order to prevent further debt.

For additional protection of the end-user, the operator must offer the possibility of setting a restriction for the SIM card (so-called SIM-barring) at the end-user's request, which involves blocking (prohibiting) the use of a specific service or a specific range from the Numbering Plan intended for the services. The restriction can only be removed at the end-user's request.

The service provider is obliged to ensure that, at the beginning of each call and before the start of the service, the price of the call and the start of billing are announced. Also, the user is protected in multiple ways when providing services that are achieved by sending/receiving messages.

In addition, the service provider and the operator are obliged to provide support services to end-users by telephone, e-mail or in writing. Also, the end-user has the right to file a complaint about the amount of the charge and/or the quality of the end-service to the service provider or operator, as well as the right to out-of-court dispute resolution before the Regulator, if the service provider rejects the complaint or fails to respond to it.