• The President of UOKiK has initiated proceedings against Vectra and Multimedia Polska.
• The charges relate to the way prices are presented and consumers are deprived of the discount when they have not paid their subscription or other charges indicated on the bill on time.
• The business entities are at risk of a fine of up to 10% of their annual turnover.

Vectra and Multimedia Polska are offering their subscribers discounts for using electronic invoices, expressing marketing consents and paying on time. Each of these three conditions is associated with a discount of about PLN 5. The President of UOKiK, in the course of its investigations, has determined that the price of services including these discounts had been presented as if it were a standard price which might have been misleading. This occurs both in marketing messages and during sales conversations with a consultant. The consumer is enticed with an attractive offer for a fixed-line Internet subscription or a broader package of services that includes it but is not immediately given clear information that, for example, failure to provide certain consents (for marketing and e-invoicing) or their withdrawal will result in higher fees.

- Consumers should already be given clear and understandable information in the marketing message or at the beginning of a sales call about how much they will pay for the service and what, if any, the terms of that price are. If entrepreneurs quote a price that includes a discount, they should clearly communicate this by also indicating the type of discount and its amount - says the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

You lose the discount as a penalty

Vectra and Multimedia Polska will increase subsequent invoices by the value of the discount that was included in the price of the fixed-line Internet offer to the consumers who do not pay their bills on time or are in arrears. Such arrears may relate not only to the fixed-line Internet subscription fees to which the discount received is tied but also to all other payments that may be included in a single invoice. For example - for various additional services that the user has ordered from the telecommunications entity. The discount can be recovered only after the payment of outstanding and current payments.

In the opinion of the President of UOKIK, the loss of a discount for failure to pay an invoice on time may be in the nature of a contractual penalty. Meanwhile, according to the Polish Civil Code, entrepreneurs may reserve such penalties for non-monetary obligations only. In the case at hand, the operators have reserved the option of punishing subscribers twice. Regardless of the withdrawal of discounts, they may charge interest for late payment of dues. In the opinion of the President of UOKiK, such practice  of both entreprenurs may be an infringement of the collective interests of consumers. If these charges are substantiated, Vectra and Multimedia Polska may be fined up to 10% of its annual turnover.

These are not the only actions by UOKiK affecting telecommunications entities. Proceedings are pending against P4, CANAL+ and T-Mobile for penalizing consumers with the loss of one of their discounts for failure to pay an invoice on time. This aspect is also under scrutiny in ongoing investigations of Netia and Orange. In addition, in the above investigations, as well as those involving CANAL+, P4 and T-Mobile, the President of UOKiK has been examining how operators present prices for telecommunications services.