Era, Aster and Vobis fined by UOKiK

2010-02-11

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) imposed a fine of around PLN 8.7m (€2.1m) on PTC, the operator of Era mobile phone service for misinforming the customers in its commercials. For similar reasons, fines of PLN 390,000 (€96,000) and PLN 177,000 (€43,000) were imposed on Aster, a leading cable TV provider, and Vobis, the computer store chain, respectively.
In the case of PTC, the UOKiK stated that the company reported that the customers may use the mobile Internet without limitations, for a very low price. It failed to report, however, that in accordance with the service regulations, the data transmission was limited to 50 MB per month, and the promotional subscription was valid only for the first three billing periods.
Aster was fined for vague expression used in its commercial, which did not inform the customers about the actual duration of the offer. Vobis also used unclear expression in its advertisement, suggesting that the customers may buy a laptop plus modem for PLN 1, while only a modem was available for such a low price.
In addition to paying the fines, the companies have to publish the UOKiK’s decision on their websites.

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