Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has fined the cable operator Multimedia Polska PLN4.81 million (€1.01 million) and obliged it to compensate the public for infringing consumer rights when it unilaterally changed programming content.
According to UOKiK, its investigation found that Multimedia Polska not only denied subscribers the right to accept programme changes and terminate their contracts without incurring any costs, but also failed to guarantee that any channels it withdrew were replaced by ones of the same genre.
Subscribers informed UOKiK that in some instances news channels were replaced with entertainment channels and documentary with movie channels. Moreover, Multimedia Polska failed to inform subscribers for any changes in writing.
UOKiK says the operator will now have to allow customers who do not accept changes the company made to its programming to terminate their contracts. It will also be required to return fines it collected illegally from customers who have cancelled their contracts. In addition, it must by letter inform customers of their rights and publish UOKiK’s decision on its website.
UOKiK adds that the aim of the public compensation mechanism is twofold: to ensure that current customers are informed of their right to opt out of their contract without incurring a charge, and, for those who opted out, to recoup the signing discount the company illegally kept for contract termination. Once binding, UOKiK’s decision will serve as a precedent for consumers seeking to settle individual claims. The courts will be required to take into account the facts described in the decision.
Significantly, UOKiK also says it is currently conducting preliminary proceedings concerning two other TV providers, ITI Neovision and UPC Polska, to determine if there is cause to institute a proceeding for practices violating collective consumer interests. At issue is whether the two changed programming packages covered by contracts, and if their advertisements induced consumers to sign contracts on the promise of particular content being available on channels which were later removed.
