Notebook with a modem for PLN 1; The fastest Internet connection in a mobile phone. No limits; Digital telephony for PLN 1 per 2 months - these are examples of slogans used by Aster, Vobis and Era network operator to tempt the consumers. The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection decided that the companies misled their consumers and imposed fines on them in the total amount of over PLN 9 million

The President of UOKiK constantly monitors the market of telecommunication services paying special attention to the content of advertising campaigns promoting new services. Only last year the Office carried out about 20 proceedings regarding advertisements, one of them related to the activities of PTC (Era network operator).

Last November, UOKiK initiated proceedings against Era operator. The fastest Internet connection in a mobile phone. No limits. For PLN 5 – this way the operator encouraged its consumers to use the new service. On the basis weaker market participants could have been convinced that they would be able to use the Internet without any limits and at a very low price. However, the company failed to point out that the regulation on providing the service determined the monthly restriction on data transmission (up to 50 MB in each settlement period) and the promotional subscription fee was binding only in the first three settlement periods. The President of the Office stated that the advertisements of the operator’s services misled the consumers and imposed on PCT a fine which amounted to PLN 8,729,993.

The Office was also concerned about the campaigns of Aster, which promoted telephone, analogue television and Internet services. The advertisements used statements based on the pattern: X months for PLN Y, which misled the consumers regarding the real offer duration. When reading the offer, the consumer may have concluded that one settlement period was one full month - additional 30 days from the date of the contract conclusion – if the consumer signed the agreement on 15^th  January he/she could have expected that the promotional offer, under the slogan e.g. two months for PLN 1, would be available until 15^th March. However, the Office discovered that the operator recognised the first day of the month on which the provision of the service began as the first day of the settlement period. Hence, if the consumer concluded the contract mid-month, he/she “lost” 15 days of promotion. The President of the Office decided that the messages contained in the operator’s advertisement misled the consumers and imposed a fine in the amount of PLN 390,720.

The President of UOKiK also accused Vobis of using unlawful practices. The company advertised a mobile Internet service available along with a portable computer for PLN 1. On the basis of the message repeated in the media, the consumers may have had the impression that they would buy a computer together with a modem at a favourable price. In fact, the modem cost PLN 1 only when the consumer bought a computer at the market prices in one of Vobis shops. According to UOKiK, both the company’s slogan used in the advertising campaign – Notebook with an iPlus modem for PLN 1, and graphical elements applied in the campaign may have misled the consumers – the inscription PLN 1 appeared on the laptop screen and not on the modem. For misleading the consumers the company was punished with a financial sanction in the amount of PLN 177,034.

Apart from the fine, PTC and Vobis have to post UOKiK’s decision on their websites for a period of six months and have the inclusion of the decision published in a nationwide daily newspaper. It should be added that all three undertakings are no longer running the campaigns questioned by the Office.

The decisions are not final and the entrepreneurs may lodge an appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. The President of UOKiK has already punished Plus network operator for using similar practices in 2008, for the advertising slogan "iPlus for you." The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection upheld this decision.

On this occasion the Office reminds the consumers that if they were misled, they can get assistance from the municipal and poviat consumer ombudsmen. In case of telecommunication services the subscribers can also obtain support from the Office of Electronic Communications, which deals with consumer disputes with entrepreneurs by means of mediation, as well as before the court of arbitration operating under the President of the Office of Electronic Communications. The Act on counteracting unfair market practices may also be useful in pursuing claims. According to the Act, the entrepreneur must prove that the consumer was given clear, full and credible information, which was the basis for making the right decision.

Additional information for the press:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone no.: (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 430
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail: malgorzata.cieloch@uokik.gov.pl