UOKiK requires cable television provider to compensate the public for infringing consumer rights when it unilaterally changed programming content.

In its latest decision to affect the cable TV market, Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has required Multimedia Poland to compensate the public for a number of illegal practices. Under the terms of the decision, the company will now have to allow customers who do not accept changes the company made to its programming, to terminate their contracts. It will also be required to return fines it collected illegally from customers who have cancelled their contracts. In addition, it must by letter inform customers of their rights and publish UOKiK’s decision on its website.

Complaints from consumers and consumer organisations, Multimedia Poland’s own offers and regulations, and recordings of telephone sales pitches all helped the Authority establish the heart of the issue: the company unilaterally changed programming packages customers had signed contracts for. It constructed its offer to circumvent the law by specifying in contracts only the number of channels to be provided, not the contents of the programming. It also failed to inform customers of their legal right to not accept changes to the programming and to respond by terminating their contracts without incurring charges for doing so. These measures left the company free to switch off some channels and run programming not covered by the contracts.

UOKiK fined Multimedia Poland 4.8 million PLN [ca. 1.1 million EUR] and elected to employ its public compensation mechanism as a means to undo lasting effects of the company’s infringement. The aim of the compensation is twofold: to ensure that current customers are informed of their right to opt out of their contract without incurring a charge, and, for those who opted out, to recoup the signing discount the company illegally kept for contract termination. Once binding, UOKiK’s decision will serve as a precedent for consumers seeking to settle individual claims. The courts will be required to take into account the facts described in the decision.

UOKiK is currently conducting preliminary proceedings concerning two other TV providers, ITI Neovision and UPC Poland, to determine if there is cause to institute a proceeding for practices violating collective consumer interests. At issue is whether the two changed programming packages covered by contracts, and if their advertisements induced consumers to sign contracts on the promise of particular content being available on channels which were later removed.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

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