Artikel 28

155 1. The expenses of the Union shall comprise the costs of:
156 a) the Council;
157 b) the General Secretariat and the Sectors of the Union;
158 c) Plenipotentiary Conferences and world conferences on international telecommunications.
159 PP-98 2. The expenses of the Union shall be met from:
159A PP-98 a) the contributions of its Member States and Sector Members;
159B PP-98 b) other revenues as identified in the Convention or in the Financial Regulations.
159C PP-98 2bis Each Member State and Sector Member shall pay a sum equivalent to the number of units in the class of contribution it has chosen in accordance with Nos. 160 to 161I below.
159D PP-98 2ter Expenses incurred by the regional conferences referred to in No. 43 of this Constitution shall be borne:
159Ea) by all the Member States of the region concerned, in accordance with their class of contribution;
159Fb) by any Member States of other regions which have participated in such conferences, in accordance with their class of contribution;
159Gc) by authorized Sector Members and other authorized organizations which have participated in such conferences, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
160 PP-98 3. 1) Member States and Sector Members shall be free to choose their class of contribution for defraying Union expenses.
161 PP-98 2) The choice by Member States shall be made at a plenipotentiary conference in accordance with the scale of classes of contribution and conditions contained in the Convention and with the procedures described below.
161A PP-98 3) The choice by Sector Members shall be made in accordance with the scale of classes of contribution and conditions contained in the Convention and with the procedures described below.
161B PP-98 3bis 1) At its session preceding the Plenipotentiary Conference, the Council shall fix the provisional amount of the contributory unit, on the basis of the draft financial plan for the corresponding period and total number of contributory units.
161C PP-98 2) The Secretary-General shall inform the Member States and Sector Members of the provisional amount of the contributory unit as determined under No. 161B above and invite the Member States to notify, no later than four weeks prior to the date set for the opening of the plenipotentiary conference, the class of contribution they have provisionally chosen.
161D PP-98 3) The Plenipotentiary Conference shall, during its first week, determine the provisional upper limit of the amount of the contributory unit resulting from the steps taken by the Secretary-General in pursuance of Nos. 161B and 161C above, and taking account of any changes in class of contribution notified by Member States to the Secretary-General as well as classes of contribution remaining unchanged.
161E PP-98 PP-02 4) Bearing in mind the draft financial plan as revised, the plenipotentiary conference shall, as soon as possible, determine the definitive upper limit of the amount of the contributory unit and set the date, which shall be at the latest on Monday of the final week of the plenipotentiary conference, by which Member States, upon invitation by the Secretary-General, shall announce their definitive choice of class of contribution.
161F PP-98 5) Member States which have failed to notify the Secretary-General of their decision by the date set by the Plenipotentiary Conference shall retain the class of contribution previously chosen.
161G PP-98 6) The Plenipotentiary Conference shall then approve the definitive financial plan on the basis of the total number of contributory units corresponding to the definitive classes of contribution chosen by the Member States and classes of contribution of the Sector Members at the date on which the financial plan is approved.
161H PP-98 3ter 1) The Secretary-General shall inform the Sector Members of the definitive upper limit of the amount of the contributory unit and invite them to notify, within three months from the closing date of the Plenipotentiary Conference, the class of contribution they have chosen.
161I PP-98 2) Sector Members which have failed to notify the Secretary-General of their decision within this three-month period shall retain the class of contribution previously chosen.
162 PP-98 3) Amendments to the scale of classes of contribution adopted by a Plenipotentiary Conference shall apply for the selection of the class of contribution during the following plenipotentiary conference.
163 PP-94 PP-98 4) The class of contribution chosen by a Member State or a Sector Member is applicable as of the first biennial budget after a Plenipotentiary Conference.
164 PP-98 (SUP)
165 PP-98 5) When choosing its class of contribution, a Member State shall not reduce it by more than 15 per cent of the number of units chosen by the Member State for the period preceding the reduction, rounding down to the nearest lower number of units in the scale, for contributions of three or more units; or by more than one class of contribution, for contributions below three units. The Council shall indicate to it the manner in which the reduction shall be gradually implemented over the period between plenipotentiary conferences. However, under exceptional circumstances such as natural disasters necessitating international aid programmes, the Plenipotentiary Conference may authorize a greater reduction in the number of contributory units when so requested by a Member State which has established that it can no longer maintain its contribution at the class originally chosen.
165A PP-98 5bis Under exceptional circumstances such as natural disasters necessitating international aid programmes. the Council may authorize a reduction in the number of contributory units when so requested by a Member State which has established that it can no longer maintain its contribution at the class originally chosen.
165B PP-98 5ter Member States and Sector Members may at any time choose a class of contribution higher than the one already adopted by them.
166 and 167 PP-98 (SUP)
168 PP-98 8. Member States and Sector Members shall pay in advance their annual contributory shares, calculated on the basis of the biennial budget approved by the Council as well as of any adjustment adopted by the Council.
169 PP-98 9. A Member State which is in arrears in its payments to the Union shall lose its right to vote as defined in Nos. 27 and 28 of this Constitution for so long as the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contribution due for the two preceding years.
170 PP-98 10. Specific provisions governing the financial contributions by Sector Members and by other international organizations are contained in the Convention.