Vectra and Multimedia Poland mislead customers? UOKiK initiated proceedings

President of UOKiK started proceedings against Vectra and Multimedia Polska, suppliers of cable TV, broadband net and landline telephony. They're facing up to 10% penalty.

Vectra and Multimedia Poland offer discounts for customers who usage e-invoices, express marketing consent and regulate payments in time. Each of these conditions gives a discount of about PLN 5.

According to the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection, the president of UOKiK established that the price of services with discounts is presented as a standard price, which may be misleading. This applies to both marketing materials and sales talks. The consumer is tempted by the attractive offer, but is not immediately clearly informed that the deficiency of marketing and e-invoice consent or their withdrawal involves higher fees.

– Consumers should already receive clear and clear information on how much they will pay for the service and what are the conditions for this price at the beginning of the sales call. If entrepreneurs supply a discount price, they should communicate this clearly by indicating besides the kind of discount and its amount," says president Tomasz Chróstny.

Consumers who do not pay bills on time or have a backlog, Vectra and Multimedia Poland increase their invoices by the amount of the discount included in the price of the fixed net offer. These arrears may concern not only net subscriptions but besides another services that can be included on 1 invoice, specified as additional services ordered from a telecommunications company. The discount can only be recovered after all outstanding and ongoing payments have been settled.

You can't punish subscribers twice

According to the president of UOKiK, the failure of the discount for not paying the invoice within the time limit may be treated as a contractual penalty. The provisions of the civilian Code let the imposition of specified sanctions only in the case of non-monetary obligations. In these circumstances, operators can punish subscribers twice: both by withdrawing discounts and charging interest for late payment.

The president of UOKiK considers that specified practice may undermine collective interests of consumers. If the charges are confirmed, Vectra and Multimedia Poland can be fined up to 10% of the yearly turnover.

The UOKiK informs that it besides conducts proceedings against P4, CANAL+ and T-Mobile on akin sanctions for non-payment of invoices on time. akin issues are examined in the proceedings concerning Netia and Orange. UOKiK checks how operators present telecommunications prices.

Daniel Głogowski

Expert in his field – Publicist, author and social activist. The first articles were published in 1999 for global publishers. For more than 30 years, he has gained his experience through cooperation with the largest editorial offices. In his articles, he seeks to address controversial topics and present first viewpoints that allowed for a deeper knowing of the issues discussed.