STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS (applicable before 19th November 2012)
1. SCOPE
1.1 The following are the standard terms and conditions which shall govern the relationship being entered into by and between you and Melita plc in respect of TV, Internet and/or telephony services being provided to you and Melita Limited in respect of any mobile telephony services provided to you.
1.2 This Agreement must be read in conjunction with the applicable Terms and Conditions of Service/s which are specific to the Service/s being provided to you, and with any other terms and conditions specific to a particular tariff, promotion or offer. Access to the specific Terms and Conditions of Service and of any tariff, offer or promotion is available by visiting our website www.melita.com.
1.3 Upon the Customer signing these standard terms and conditions, following installation (where applicable) of any Equipment and immediately upon first use by the Customer of any of the Services provided, these standard terms and conditions together with the Work Order Form/Service Application Form, Schedule of Charges and any other applicable Terms and Conditions of Service, tariff, promotion or offer shall together shall have the force of law between the parties.
2. DEFINITIONS
2.1 For the scope of these standard terms and conditions:
(i) “Agreement” means these standard terms and conditions including the Service Application Form/Work Order Form, Schedule of Charges any other applicable Terms and Conditions of Service, tariff, promotion or offer and any other document referred to or incorporated herein and any additional or varied terms and conditions as we may notify you with;
(ii) “Bundle” means the grouping of any two or more of Melita’s Services under a common price.
(iii) “Customer” and “you” means the person named on the Work Order Form/Service Application Form who must also be the signatory to this Agreement and includes any person who we reasonably believe to be acting with your authority, and “your” shall be construed accordingly.
(iv) “Equipment” means any equipment that Melita supplies (with or without payment) to the Customer for the use of or access to the Services/s, as specified in the specific Terms and Conditions of Service.
(v) “Installation Premises” means the address given by the Customer, as shown on the Work Order Form/Service Application Form, where the requested Services are to be provided.
(vi) “Melita” and “we” means Melita plc (C12715) including its subsidiary Melita Limited (C35794) and “our” and “us” shall be construed accordingly.
(vii) “Network” means the system consisting of an HFC (hybrid fibre/coax) network and/or the 3G network owned and operated by Melita in order to provide Services to its Customers.
(viii) “Schedule of Charges” means the list of charges related to the Service (excluding charges for usage) that a Customer may be liable to pay, as published by us on our website www.melita.com from time to time. All such amounts are indicated inclusive of all taxes imposed or levied.
(ix) “Service/s” means Melita’s publicly available fixed telephony, TV, data (Internet) and mobile telephony services, being provided further to this Agreement. Unless the context suggests otherwise, the word “Service” or “Services” as used in this agreement shall apply to any one or more of Melita’s Services.
(x) “Service Application Form” means the document presented to the Customer when applying for any of Melita’s Services together with these standard terms and conditions containing all of the Customer’s personal details together with the relevant Service details.
(xi) “Work Order Form” means the document presented to the Customer at the time of installation of any of the Services together with these standard terms and conditions.
3. SERVICES
3.1 Melita reserves the right to accept or refuse to provide any Service/s to any Customer. Melita may refuse to provide Service to any person (i) who is not the Customer or who is not authorised by the Customer to sign this Agreement and the Work Order Form/ Service Application Form; (ii) who after having his credit worthiness and status checked does not qualify for Service under Melita’s current credit policy; (iii) who has a history of failure to pay any fees or charges for any Service provided by Melita; (iv) whose Installation Premises falls outside our service area; (v) who does not live and have a mailing address within our own Network coverage area (v) who is not the owner of the Installation Premises or if not the owner has been a tenant of the Installation Premises for less than six months or; (vi) who has violated any portion of this Agreement, any of the Terms and Conditions of Service and/or any other terms and conditions specific to a particular tariff, promotion or offer.
3.2 A deposit may be required for your Service to be activated that will be refunded to you at the end of the Service, if there is a balance remaining. Such a deposit does not relieve you from having to pay any and all outstanding amounts and/or charges upon termination of the Agreement.
3.3 We will provide you with the Services from date of activation for the term stipulated in clause 10 hereunder; or until the date of use of all the pre-purchased value, if any; or until the expiry of designated time window, if applicable; or up to the value of approved credit limit; or until the contract is terminated in accordance with the terms hereof.
3.4 Service/s may be subject to certain equipment and compatibility / limitations including memory, storage, network availability, coverage, accessibility and data conversion.
4. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES, RIGHTS AND REMEDIES
4.1 We will endeavour to provide reliable and effective Service/s. We are however unable to guarantee that our Services will be uninterrupted; fault free and we do not guarantee availability of our network. Melita shall not be held responsible for any interruption beyond its control. In any case, neither party shall be held liable for defaults due to circumstances considered to be force majeure.
4.2 Melita will endeavour to resolve any complaints that you may have regarding the Services as soon as possible. In the event of a fault affecting the Service/s provided to you, Melita shall as soon as possible after notification by you carry out any corrective maintenance necessary for which you shall be charged a Service Call Charge and where applicable an Appointment charge as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges. Provided that if following such corrective maintenance it is established that the fault originated from Melita’s Equipment, through no fault of the Customer or his/her equipment/network, then such corrective maintenance shall be carried out at Melita’s expense.
4.3 We reserve the right to (a) suspend the Services without notice, due to the Network breaking down and/or requiring maintenance or for any reason specified in Clause 10 of this Agreement; (b) make changes to these terms and conditions of Agreement or to the Services or to any of their features at any time, after giving the Customer at least 30 days prior notice of the proposed change/s by e-mail or post at the last address provided by the Customer and by posting information on our website where applicable. You have a right to terminate the Agreement during the said notice period without penalty. Your continued usage of our Services beyond this notice period will be deemed your acceptance of the changes to the Service; (c) improve, modify, alter or change the Services or any features in view of technical, operational or commercial reasons; and with regard to channel line-up only, if there is a change that effects more than fifteen per cent (15%) of the channel line-up or a minimum of five (5) channels, whichever is the greater, of the relevant tier the Customer is on within any rolling twelve (12) month period during the Initial Term of the Agreement, the terms indicated in Clause 4.2 of the TV Conditions of Service shall apply and the Customer has the right to terminate the Agreement without penalty in accordance with the said Clause 4.2 of the TV Conditions of Service (d) remove any material that violates our policies or applicable law; (e) hold you liable for any damages resulting from the violation of any of our policies or breach of this Agreement; (f) block access to the Service/s if so required by any applicable law or lawful order issued by any competent court, tribunal or authority; (g) make, on lawful request by the relevant authorities, data available which might be used for criminal or other police or governmental investigations; (h) take any other action granted by law to safeguard our statutory rights arising out of this Agreement.
5. YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
5.1 You must give us promptly and accurately all the information which may be needed so that we can perform our obligations under this Agreement. You must notify us immediately if any of your personal details given to us change.
5.2 You agree to follow all the instructions given by us regarding use of the Equipment and the Services including but not limited to our Acceptable Usage Policy which is accessible by visiting www.melita.com and agree to use the Equipment and the Services for lawful purposes only.
5.3 As the registered account holder, you are responsible for your Melita account, you agree to keep any password and/or PIN/PUK code as the case may be, secure by not let it become public knowledge and not storing it anywhere on a computer or in plain text anywhere else. If the password/PIN/PUK’s, if any, become known to any unauthorised person you agree to inform Melita immediately.
5.4 It is the Customers responsibility to ensure that the electrical and telecommunications networks in the Installation Premises are built and maintained according to the applicable MSA/EN standards.
6. CHARGES AND FEES
6.1 The Customer shall be responsible for any applicable Installation charges/fees together with any other applicable charges as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges. Non-routine installations (e.g. extensions in multiple rooms) are charged separately and the Customer is advised of such beforehand.
6.2 The Customer shall be responsible to pay any monthly recurring Service fees for the use of the Service/s provided, as established by Melita and subject to lawful change in accordance with the procedure specified in clause4.3 (b) above.
6.3 Any and all monthly Service fees shall be invoiced to the Customer together with any other charges incurred whilst making use of such Service/s, including amounts due for usage of our fixed and/or mobile telephony service, and other non-recurring charges such as hardware rental charges, connection and/or relocation fees, and one-time fees. Such Service fees and charges commence on the date when the Service/s is/are installed and payments shall become due upon the due date stipulated on the invoice.
6.4 Invoices will be sent to your last known address and we assume that you received invoices sent to you by post three days after posting. You are liable to pay all amounts listed on the invoice notwithstanding who made use of the Service/s. Any amount that is not settled by the due date as indicated on the invoice shall be subject to: (i) interest at the then maximum rate allowed by law, until the date that they are paid by you; (ii) a Late Payment charge as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges.
6.5 Any cheque or direct debit that is cancelled or not cleared by your bank shall be subject to a Cheque Default charge or Direct Debit Default charge as applicable, as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges.
6.6 We reserve the right to invoice you retrospectively for any Services provided. You are responsible for paying any fees or charges for Services, even if they were erroneously omitted from your prior invoices. Failure to receive invoices does not relieve you of the responsibility to pay any amount due on your account, and in such an eventuality you should check with one of our authorized agents or call Melita’s customer care.
6.7 Fees and charges for use of the Service/s shall be legally due and collectable up to the date of disconnection/termination. If we disconnect your Service/s because you failed to pay the fees and charges you are liable to pay, we will be entitled to recover from you all costs of collection, interest not exceeding the maximum allowed by law, legal fees and any Late Payment charges, as well as any Disconnection charges applicable at the time as per Schedule of Charges. We will also be entitled to charge you for any use and usage of our Services made by you without our permission. Any breach of this Agreement committed through fraud or illegal activity, will be reported to the police, who may take legal action against you.
6.8 We reserve the right to carry out a credit check on you at any time. We may use the information obtained from credit searches and from other lawful sources to take any credit decision affecting this Agreement. If at any time you fail to meet our credit conditions or fail to make due payments we may enforce any credit limits on your account, ask for a deposit, restrict the level of Services we provide to you, only allow certain methods of payment and/or suspend some or all of the Services at any time when you reach the limits established until we have received the full payment of any amounts you owe under this Agreement.
7. EQUIPMENT
7.1 We shall at all times remain the owner of any Equipment provided notwithstanding you having paid a deposit in respect of some of the Equipment whether fixed at your Installation Premises or not, furthermore we may add or substitute Equipment at our sole discretion.
8. ACCESS
8.1 You hereby irrevocably give permission to Melita and any of its employees or third party contractors to safely enter and execute any necessary works related to the connection/disconnection and general upkeep of the Equipment situated on or at your Installation Premises, during reasonable hours and upon presentation of a personal identity card. Provided that, failure to give such access without justification, may be deemed as a breach of Agreement which may then lead to disconnection.
8.2 You hereby irrevocably give permission to Melita to keep the Equipment installed on, under or over the Installation Premises.
9. CANCELLATION POLICY
9.1 A Customer subscribing to any of Melita’s Services (excluding Melita’s mobile telephony service) is entitled, within 15 days from the date of this Agreement, to cancel this Agreement without incurring any penalty and without giving any reason, by giving a written Notice of Cancellation, expressing your intention to cancel the Agreement.
9.2 A Notice of Cancellation will be properly given if the Customer:
a. leaves a signed written notice addressed to Melita at our address, in which case the date of notice is deemed to be the date of delivery. or
b. posts the signed written notice to Melita Ltd, Gasan Centre, Triq il-Merghat, Zone 1, Central Business District, Birkirkara, CBD 1020, in which case the date of notice is deemed to be the date it was posted.
It is advisable to keep a copy of your Notice of Cancellation.
9.3 If cancelled in accordance with this clause 9, then the Agreement shall be deemed as terminated and the relative clauses of this Agreement shall apply. Fees and charges for Services and use of Service/s shall be legally due and collectible up to the date of cancellation. Installation charges are not refundable.
9.4 The provisions of this Clause 9 are without prejudice to the provisions of the Doorstep Contracts Act (Chapter 317 of the Laws of Malta) and the Distance Selling Regulations (S.L.378.08 of the Laws of Malta).
10 TERM and TERMINATION
10.1 If not cancelled in accordance with clause 9 above, this Agreement shall be valid for a period of twenty-four (24) months (the “Initial Term”), You can opt to terminate this Agreement at the end of the Initial Term by giving at least one (1) month notice in writing prior to the expiry of the then current term. If you terminate the Agreement in part or in full before the lapse of the then current term, you shall be liable to pay Melita (i) an Early Termination Charge for every Service terminated as specified in the Schedule of Charges and (ii) all outstanding amounts on your account. Provided that in the case of the mobile telephony Service, the Customer shall also be liable to pay any and all the penalties indicated in the tariff-specific terms and conditions, which in case of a subsidised handset or device, includes the cost of the handset.
10.2 A Customer subscribed to a Bundle, who at any time upgrades the Bundle by adding any other Service, will have his Initial Term renewed as from the date when such additional Service was activated.
10.3 If not terminated in terms of clause 10.1 above, this Agreement shall remain valid until you exercise you right to terminate by giving a one (1) month written notice to Melita.
10.4 Upon termination: (a) and upon us receiving all the Equipment in good working order, we shall stop providing you with the Services and we shall deactivate the Equipment; (b) you must pay all charges listed on your account; (c) you have fifteen days within which you must grant Melita access to your Installation Premises in order to collect/remove any and all of the Equipment provided. Provided that if access is not granted and/or any of the Equipment is not returned or is damaged, then Melita shall be entitled to charge the relevant charges as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges.
10.5 Without prejudice to the Initial Term and to other clauses in this Agreement, this Agreement may be terminated promptly and without notice by Melita, if: (a) you become insolvent, bankrupt, or enter into any arrangement with your creditors or if any legal action is taken or threatened against your property; (b) you or another person at your Installation Premises have committed, or may be committing, any fraud against us or against any other person or organisation by using the Services or Equipment; (c) you have breached this Agreement and/or the Acceptable Usage Policy and have not remedied the breach within 7 days of our notification of the breach; (d) we have reason to believe that you have provided us with false, inaccurate or misleading information either for the purpose of obtaining the Services and/or the Equipment ; (e) the provision of the Service to the Customer could give rise to or cause disruption to the Services offered by Melita to its other subscribers; (f) our authority to operate as a public communications provider is terminated or suspended for any reason; or (g) we are required to comply with an order, request or decision by any governmental or regulatory authority.
10.6 Any Customer who has had his Agreement terminated or disconnected and who wishes to restore his Services has to pay any outstanding amounts in his name as well as a Reconnection charge as stipulated in the Schedule of Charges applicable at the time.
10.7 Termination of your Agreement with us shall not reduce our rights or remedies for recovery of outstanding debts or damages from you and shall not affect any rights personal to you that arose prior to termination. Any terms under this Agreement which are intended to apply after termination will continue to apply.
10.8 Any breach of this Agreement by us entitles you to terminate the Agreement without incurring penalty. Provided however, that we are given a cure period of not less than 7 days within which to rectify our position, which 7 days shall start running from the date you send us a signed notice in writing, specifying the nature of the breach.
10.9 In respect of its mobile telephony service, Melita reserves the right not to entertain migration requests from the Customer from one tariff plan to another. In such cases where it adheres to such a request, the Customer shall have to terminate this Agreement and enter into a new agreement.
11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY
11.1 Except as set out in this Agreement but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, you shall hold Melita, its employees, agents or contractors, harmless from and indemnify Melita for: (a) Any loss, liability and/or any direct physical damage done your property unless caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or contractors while acting in the course of their employment that is brought to Melita’s notice within 7 days of its occurrence; (b) indirect or consequential damages; (c) loss of profits, business or revenue; (d) access delays or interruptions; (e) loss or liability resulting from any errors, omissions, or misstatements in any and all information, goods, or services obtained on or through the Services; (f) any error or omission of the Customer; (g) any loss of Service and/or damage caused to our Equipment or your equipment arising from power outages. For data and telephony Services, Customer may opt to install a battery backup cable modem at the agreed charges to limit the loss of service due to power outages.
11.2 Without prejudice to the foregoing, the total liability of Melita (if any) arising out of this Agreement, in any one year, shall not in any circumstances exceed the total sum of charges paid by you for the Service/s in that year.
12. MISCELLANEOUS
12.1 We may transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement upon giving notice. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under this Agreement.
12.2 This Agreement contains the whole Agreement between you and us and any previous agreement in respect of the Services to be provided pursuant hereto is revoked by this Agreement. Nothing which is said to you by or on our behalf forms part of this Agreement. If for any reason any term of this Agreement cannot be enforced or relied upon, all other terms of this Agreement shall remain valid and binding.
12.3 Headings to the articles of the Agreement are for ease of reference only and shall not affect the interpretation or construction thereof.
12.4 The failure of either party to insist upon strict performance of any provision of this Agreement, or to exercise any right or remedy to which it is entitled under or in connection with this Agreement, shall not constitute a waiver thereof, and any waiver of any default shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default.
12.5 Without prejudice to any other provision contained in this Agreement any notices we or you give each other shall be in writing and must be delivered by hand, sent by fax, by email or ordinary post to you at your registered address or to us at Melita Ltd, Gasan Centre, Triq il-Merghat, Zone 1, Central Business District, Birkirkara, CBD 1020. Any written notice sent to you by us is deemed to have been received by you three days after being posted to your last known address.
12.6 This Agreement shall be governed, construed and interpreted in accordance with the Laws of the Republic of Malta. The parties submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Malta.
13. DATA PROTECTION
13.1 Melita shall process all data relating to the Customer according to the Data Protection Act 2001 (Chapter 440 of the Laws of Malta) and its subsidiary legislation. Melita may process the data for direct marketing of promotion and may send you information about products and services supplied by us or any of our subsidiary/parent/affiliate companies, by mail, telephone, email, electronic messaging including text messaging or fax. If you do not want us to, you may at any time, by written notice to Melita, oppose the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. Furthermore you acknowledge that Melita is obliged to provide the Services in conformity with Maltese Law including laws dealing with data retention and lawful intercept.
13.2 Melita without prejudice to clause 13.1, Melita undertakes to ensure that all personal data shall be processed in accordance with our Data Protection Policy, available by visiting our website at www.melita.com
14 ACCESS TO EMERGENCY SERVICES
14.1 Customers wishing to call the Emergency Services can call the short code number as may be applicable from time to time. Currently the number is 112. Melita declares and the Customer acknowledges that the Equipment is dependent on electricity for performance. Accordingly, in the event of power outages the Service (including access to emergency services) will not be available. Provided however, that in the case of internet and telephony, the Customer can, on request, be provisioned with a battery back-up cable modem, which retains Service for up to 3 hours.”
DIRECT DEBIT MANDATE
(i) Any Customer opting to enter into a direct debit mandate is hereby authorizing their respective bank to pay Melita p.l.c by way of direct debit from you account and until further written notice.
(ii) The Customer is fully aware that the amounts may be variable and may also be debited on various dates.
(iii) The Customer understands that Melita p.l.c will give you 14 days notice of the amount to be directly debited and the due date of the entry if such amount and due date differ from previous payments effected. The bank will not be bound to verify whether any such notice has been given.
(iv) The Customer understands that the bank is at liberty to refuse to effect payment if your bank account does not have sufficient funds to meet characteristics, applications and other factors and that any charges resulting from insufficient funds shall be debited to your account.
(v) The Customer understands that the bank is entitled to terminate any direct debit arrangement at its sole discretion by advising you and Melita p.l.c. in writing.
(vi) The Customer shall inform the bank and Melita p.l.c. in writing if you wish to cancel these instructions.