The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has brought charges against Vectra, the country’s leading cable operator.
In a statement, it says that the company unilaterally introduced a clause enabling an increase in the fee for internet and TV services despite the fact that the contracts did not contain an appropriate modification clause enabling such action. As a result, it may now be fined up to 10% of its turnover for violating the collective interest of consumers.
UOKiK notes that customers received letters informing them of the unilateral addition of a provision to the general terms and conditions of the contract, under which Vectra could increase the amount of the subscription once a year. Importantly, the current contractual conditions did not provide for Vectra’s right to introduce such provisions.
A few months later, customers received information that their monthly subscription had increased by PLN5 (€1.08) even though the original contractual terms did not allow the operator to act in this way. As a consequence, those who did not terminate their contract were forced by Vectra to pay as much as PLN60 more per year for telecommunications services.
Commenting on the charges, UOKIK’s president Tomasz Chrostny said: “In our interventions on the market, we have repeatedly indicated that the change of essential conditions of an ongoing contract, such as the price of the service, can only occur if the contract expressly provides for it. This is precisely what modification clauses are used for, thanks to which the consumer, when concluding the contract, has information in which specific situations may occur, the modification of the conditions of the service provided, including its price. However, such provisions cannot be introduced unilaterally, i.e. from the position of the stronger party, which is the entrepreneur”.
