Three of Poland’s largest telecommunications operators – Orange, Netia and Play – have been ordered by the country’s consumer authority to refund customers for additional paid services they received without giving express consent.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), which issued the decision, has also announced that new standards on informing consumers about paid services will be introduced.
#Netia, #Orange i #Play oddadzą konsumentom opłaty za włączane bez ich wyraźnej zgody usługi dodatkowe.
✔️Wszystkie reklamacje będą pozytywnie rozpatrzone.
✔️Zmienią się standardy informowania konsumentów o płatnych usługach podczas zawierania umowy.
📎https://t.co/Vru1Lnn1V6 pic.twitter.com/sTUnPKnjYc— UOKiK (@UOKiKgovPL) April 21, 2022
The three firms in question were found to have turned on certain services automatically when customers signed new contracts or extended existing ones. Users were then left to turn them off after a trial period, but many complained to UOKiK that they were not made aware of this.
Under Poland’s consumer rights law, “the inclusion of additional paid services must take place with the express consent of the subscriber”, says Tomasz Chróstny, the head of UOKiK.
Among the additional products included by the operators without consumers’ consent were streaming services, internet-safety tools and packages for extra data, calls and text messages.
Under the decisions issued by UOKiK, Netia, Orange and Play are required to compensate the affected customers and also to “implement procedures according to which the consumer will be asked at the stage of concluding the contract for consent to activate additional paid services”.
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
