Bucharest-based National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (ICI), the authority that maintains web domains with the .ro extension (ROTLD), plans to introduce an annual use fee for .ro domains starting July this year.

Those who want to register a new .ro domain after July 1 will need to pay an initial tax of EUR 39 plus VAT, which will cover for the first five years of using that domain. After the five years, the users will pay annual fees of EUR 7.8 to keep those domains.

The current toll structure provides that people pay just one tax of EUR 39 when they acquire the domain and then use it for life.

The new annual taxes will also apply to those who already have registered domains. Thus, those who registered their domains before July 1, 2012, will have to pay the annual maintenance fee until October 1, 2017. Those who have registered their domains after July 1, 2012, will start paying the annual fee after five years since the moment of the registration.

Some 16 companies active in the online industry have complained about the lack of transparency of ICI Bucharest in establishing and communicating the new prices. They consider the measures “unusual” in the industry.

“Of the top 20 domain extensions in the world, only one does not allow to record it for one year, “.au”- minimum for two years,” the industry representatives said.

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