• The UOKiK has adopted a decision pertaining to the company known as Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa.
• Its employees routinely mislead consumers by holding themselves out as representatives of the existing operator (telecommunication service provider).
• The amount of the penalty imposed amounts to nearly 500 thousand PLN.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has received more than 300 complaints and other notifications which called the practices of the Warsaw-based company Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa Sp. z o.o. into question. The company is a telecommunication service provider offering landline telephone services. Most of the complaints were filed by senior citizens and their families and pertained to the practice whereby the company employees would falsely represent themselves as acting on behalf of the existing telecommunication service provider. Here is an excerpt from one of the consumer calls which may serve as an example: That lady on the phone tells me that she’s calling from Orange telecommunications and that she’s offering me a lower subscription fee of just 25 PLN. I ask her if she really is representing my existing service provider and she tells me, she assures me that she is. “I’ve got your telephone bill here and I can see how much you’re paying at the moment”, she says, so I tell her that she should do all it takes to make it all right. She told me a courier would come over and bring me some paperwork to sign.

The Competition Authority has initiated proceedings against Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa and has issued an official warning against the practices of this company. An analysis of the complaints, notifications and other communications has confirmed that Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa misleads consumers as to its own identity, the subject of the contracts offered and the financial conditions thereof. The representatives of Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa get in touch with consumers with a landline service, misrepresenting themselves as employees of the existing service provider or suggesting that they are acting on its behalf. During their consumer calls, they offer lower fees for telephone services. In reality, however, once the documents delivered by the courier are signed, the consumer concludes a contract with a new company – Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa. Moreover, in many cases the courier would insist that the consumer sign the contract as fast as possible, without even reading its contents. In their complaints, consumers would testify, for example, that When signing the contract, the company’s representative, who’s never even given me his name, told me to sign the documents without delay, highlighting the subscription fee in the amount of PLN 18.30 which was specified in the fee table. In addition, he actually obscured the section containing the company information and did not allow me to become acquainted with the contract because he was in a hurry. What the representatives of Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa never tell their customers – neither during consumer calls nor when visiting their home address to sign the contract – is that the lower subscription fee only applies for a period of two months.

The President of the UOKiK has stated that Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa resorts to misrepresentation in order to induce consumers to sign the contracts, because its representatives:

• Pretend to be acting on behalf of the consumers’ existing service provider;
• Assure consumers during home visits that the documents to be signed constitute a mere amendment of the contract with the existing service provider;
• Offer a lower telephone subscription fee, failing to inform the consumers that the lower rates will be in force for a period of two months only.

In addition, the representatives of Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa do not provide consumers with copies of the essential documents such as the contract itself, the terms and conditions, the price list or the contract cancellation form.

The penalty imposed on Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa for infringement of the collective interests of consumers amounted to nearly PLN 500 thousand (PLN 499 225). – We have found no attenuating circumstances whatsoever. Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa resorts to misrepresentation in order to maximise the number of contracts signed. Despite receiving numerous notifications – from consumers themselves or otherwise – the company has failed to change its practices. In their complaints, consumers have stated that they only became aware that they have changed the provider of the telecommunications services once they received the first invoice or after their existing telephone line was disconnected. Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa also imposes a penalty in the amount of PLN 550 for the cancellation of a contract concluded for a specific period of time – says Marek Niechciał, President of the UOKiK.

The Competition Authority has ordered Telekomunikacja Cyfrowa to discontinue all prohibited practices. The decision is not final, and the company may appeal against it to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office of the UOKiK 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: 48 22 55 60 111
Email: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL