Fines of almost a quarter of a billion zlotys from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for telecommunications companies in 2020-24 for violating consumer rights – including misleading customers and using unfavourable contracts. These are data from the latest report by the Polish Economic Network, containing examples of specific companies.
Telecoms under fire – an avalanche of complaints and fines from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
For years, the most important category of advice provided by consumer advocates has been advice in the telecommunications industry and, unfortunately, this is a problem encountered throughout Europe. According to UOKiK data from 2017, complaints about the activities of telecommunications companies constitute over 1/4 of all advice. Consumers report complaints about telecommunications even more often than about financial services or media (water, electricity or gas).
The data was included in the broad report “Small practices – big impact. Analysis of violations of collective consumer interests by telecommunications companies” by the Polish Economic Network. This is an analysis of decisions issued in 2020-2024 by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) regarding cases of violations of consumer rights and unfair market practices in the area of telecommunications services.
Polish Economics Network
Million-dollar fines for large companies
In the period under review, UOKiK imposed fines in the amount of nearly PLN 225 million. The highest financial penalties were imposed on selected enterprises, and their detailed list is included in the report available on the website of the Polish Economic Network.
The largest group of violations in these years were prohibited provisions of standard contracts or shaping contracts in another way that is against the law – almost PLN 111.5 million of the imposed penalty. In turn, for misleading as an unfair market practice, companies received a total of over PLN 55 million in sanctions. Among prohibited practices was also collecting payments without the express consent of the consumer.
Polish Economics Network
PLSE: the state must be the guardian of the balance
“Regulation of the telecommunications market is necessary not only for the good of the entire economy, but above all to protect the interests of all residents of Poland. Each of us is a user of the telephone, television or the Internet and can become a victim of illegal practices of large corporations. The state must guard this balance,” says Jan Oleszczuk-Zygmuntowski, co-chairman of the PLSE board.
The growing dependence on telecommunications services has deepened the inequality in power relations between providers and consumers. “Telecommunications companies use complex legal language in preparing contracts and during business negotiations. This method of communication, combined with the emphasis on selling broad packages of digital services, often led to users making decisions that were inconsistent with their real will,” emphasizes Maria Świetlik from the Polish Economic Network.
“These seemingly minor practices, the omission of some information, a few zlotys of additional fee, failure to send a contract, translate into a large impact due to the scale of telecommunications companies' operations, which is why we want to sensitize society to these issues and the importance of institutions such as the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in defending our rights,” he explains.
In 2017, the first drop in the number of complaints was noted, and the UOKiK points to new regulations and effective administrative actions. Unfortunately, the lack of more recent data makes it impossible to verify whether telecoms companies have actually improved their operations since 2019.
