The Polish competition authority UOKiK has fined Samsung PLN2,288.000 (€550,498) for a misleading ad campaign that appeared to be linked to the country’s digitisation process.
In a statement, the authority says that Samsung’s campaign in many ways mirrored that being undertaken by the Ministry of Administration and Digitisation and could have led consumers to believe that Samsung’s commercial offer was part of the government’s information campaign.
The UOKiK adds that in imposing the fine, it took into account the immediate withdrawal of Samsung’s ad campaign once its investigation had begun and Samsung’s active cooperation during the investigation.
It also says that the decision is not final and can be appealed.
The UOKiK has in addition said that it is backing checks on retailers of TVs and decoders to ensure they are complying with the terms of the digitisation process.
As of the end of March, 8.2% of the 694 inspected had failed to do so.