• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, has made allegations against Orange Polska due to the irregularities associated with the activation of paid services offered by Orange Polska and subscription services provided by other entities for its subscribers.
• For violation of collective consumer interests, the President of UOKiK may impose a penalty of up to 10 percent of the turnover.

The proceedings against Orange Polska concern additional charges that may be included in a bill under "electronic services." They are billed for two types of services:

• non-telecommunication services provided by Orange (activated e.g. through notifications called flash text messages which the consumer approves by clicking the "OK" button after receiving it). Theese services include: "Gdzie jest Dziecko" ("Find my child"), "Chroń dzieci w sieci" ("Protect your children online"), "Nawigacja Orange" ("Navigation Orange"), "CyberTarcza" ("Cyber-shield") and "Zabezpiecz PESEL" ("Protect your PESEL number").
• third-party's services charged by the operator using "Zamów z Orange" ("Order from Orange"), i.e. direct billing where the charge is automatically added to the bill). These include services such as GAMEMINE, KidzInMine, VIDIX.mobi.

The aforementioned distinction is very important when filing a claim to the appropriate authority.

"On the invoice, charges for both of these services appeared under "electronic services," making it difficult for consumers to recognise what did they include and who was providing them. Many of those who notified UOKiK claimed that they had not ordered additional services and did not know where these charges came from. According to law, entrepreneurs should obtain unambiguous confirmation from consumers indicating that they are aware of the paid nature of the service ordered. In the case of Orange Polska, consumers' reports prove that the procedure of ordering premium services may have been misleading and may have exposed consumers to additional costs," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Flash messages

Orange Polska provides the following services: "Gdzie jest Dziecko" ("Find my child"), "Chroń dzieci w sieci" ("Protect your children online"), "Nawigacja Orange" ("Navigation Orange"), "CyberTarcza" ("Cyber-shield") and "Zabezpiecz PESEL" ("Protect your PESEL number").  The services are activated, e.g. through notifications that suddenly appear on the phone screen – they can be unknowingly activated by clicking on the "OK" button – and the received notifications are not saved in the inbox.These are called flash messages. Consumers were unaware that they had activated paid services and may have regarded the received notifications as spam.

An example of such a message:

The allegation made by the President of UOKiK concerns improper marking of the button used to place an order. According to the law on the consumers' rights, it should bear the information "Order with an obligation to pay" or its equivalent. Furthermore, the President of UOKiK suspects that Orange Polska may not record the confirmation of the terms and conditions of the paid services agreement on a durable medium.

Direct billing

Services such as GAMEMINE, KidzInMine, VIDIX.mobi are provided using direct billing – i.e. by other companies, while Orange Polska makes them available, provides technical means for their implementation and adds the charge directly to the bill under the "Order from Orange" service. In the case of subscriptions, an activation fee is charged weekly until cancelled.

Sample message: [GAMEMINE] Visit http://pl.gamemine.com and play the BEST games for PLN 11.97/week. The amount has been deduced from your account. For assistance, call a free helpline at 222922724 or cancel the service via http://gmhelp.cc/pl

Information provided by consumers shows that activation of these services occurred, e.g., through a link located on a website or in an advertisement placed in a mobile game, as well as using the SIM card in a router. After the President of UOKiK took action, the company improved the authorisation procedure to prevent unintentional activations of services. However, the lack of confirmation of the use of services, such as "Order from Orange", and the way complaints are handled still raises concerns. Consumer complaints indicate that replies issued by Orange Polska contained repeated, general information on the aforementioned service. The company reported that the charge was billed correctly, it was not responsible for the higher bills, and that Orange was merely acting as an intermediary in the payment process. Moreover, the company did not provide any information about the rules of the "Order from Orange" service and its regulations, as well as suggested that the complaint should be addressed to another entity. The President of UOKiK will verify whether the operator did not make it difficult for the consumers to pursue their claims by providing incomplete answers to their complaints, as well as regarding the circumstances of the provision of the service "Order from Orange".

The proceedings regarding the infringement of the collective interests of consumers may result in a financial penalty of up to 10% of last year's turnover.

Consumer, please remember:

Are you getting notifications about services? The operator must inform you that the services are chargeable. The text messages or notifications must clearly state that this is a purchase order and that payment is required, also the price of the service must be advised. The confirmation of ordering paid services must be sent via a durable medium (e.g. an e-mail). The activation must always be done with your informed consent.

If you notice that your operator has added an extra charge to your bill for any services (e.g. the bill shows a charge for "electronic services"), please contact the operator and find out what type of services the charge is related to. You should get clear information about the type of services and who provides the services.

Flash text messages are not saved in your inbox. By clicking "OK" you may unknowingly order an unwanted paid service. In such a case, please file a complaint with your operator. Services, in the case of which direct billing is used (games, ringtones, movies), are provided by other entities and the duty of the operator is to add the charges to the bill.

Amendments to the law

In view of the irregularities identified in connection with the use ofdirect billing, it is planned to regulate the rules for the provision of such services when implementing the provisions of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC). The President of the Office, in the course of works conducted by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization, submitted pro-consumer comments to the draft of Electronic Communications Law to regulate, for the first time, that type of services (defined in the draft as optional debit services). The purpose of the submitted comments was to develop solutions that would prevent the activation of services without the prior express consent of the customer. The President of the Office also pointed out the need to strengthen the provisions of direct billing services and that such services should require the prior consent of the subscriber.

Consumer assistance:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – Consumer Helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer ombudsman – in your city or county
The Office of Electronic Communications – Consumer Information Centre– 22 33 04 000

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL