• Orange Polska will compensate subscribers for activating third-party services and company's non-telecommunications services - this is one of the effects of the decision made by Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.
• The President of UOKiK looked into the direct billing service and the so-called flash SMS (flash text messages)
• See the decision of the President of the UOKiK to see who can expect compensation and in what amount.

Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK, issued a decision obliging the Orange Polska telecommunication company to compensate subscribers and change its course of action. Objections were raised over irregularities in the activation of paid services offered by Orange Polska and subscription services provided by other entities for Orange subscribers.

"We received complaints from consumers who were surprised by a higher bill and did not know what they were being charged for. The reports showed that the services were activated unknowingly - by clicking on the so-called flash SMS option, a link on a website, an ad in a mobile game, or by using the SIM card in a router. We have examined the way in which these services are activated, the rules of adding charges to the bill for this content and answers to consumer complaints," says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The proceedings involved:

• non-telecommunications services provided by Orange(activated, for example, through the so-called flash SMS notifications and clicking the "OK" button by the consumer after receiving it). The services in question are: "Gdzie jest Dziecko”, "Chroń dzieci w sieci”, "Nawigacja Orange”, "CyberTarcza” and "Zabezpiecz PESEL”,
• which are third-party services billed by the telecommunication company using "Zamów z Orange" (the so-called direct billing service, where the charge is automatically added to the bill). These include GAMEMINE, KidzInMine, VIDIX.mobi.

Most of these were subscription services – the charges could be, for example, PLN 7.98 per month, but also PLN 14.99 per week.

In the proceedings, the lack of indication that clicking the "OK" button means agreeing to making an order with an obligation to pay, the lack of confirmation of contract terms
on a durable medium (the practice was discontinued in the course of the proceedings in November 2020) or providing incomplete replies to complaints were questioned.

In the issued decision, the President of UOKiK obliged Orange Polska to compensate consumers for losses. Download the decision and learn more about the compensation - here are some of the solutions:

• Have you unknowingly ordered an additional paid service or non-telecommunications service? The telecommunication company will pay compensation to you - it will be twice the price of the activated content. This applies to former and current subscribers who have filed a complaint about the company. Detailed conditions for obtaining compensation can be found in the decision.
• Orange Polska will not be using the flash SMS service.
• The standards for processing complaints will change – the response will include information about the method of adding charges to the bill, the name of the activated service, information about the entity that provides it, the method of activation and deactivation, the possibility of blocking the service.
• The telecommunication company will accept complaints for unknowingly activating paid services and will refund the fee charged.

Consumers, remember:

Are you getting service notifications? The telecommunication company must inform you that there are charges for using services. The text message or the notification must clearly state that it is an order with an obligation to pay and state the price of the service. Pay attention to the content of the notifications and text messages that you receive and to how the buttons in them are labelled. You should also receive a confirmation of the terms and conditions of the service agreement on a durable medium (e.g. sent via email or made available on the provider's website on the condition that the provider ensures that the content remains unchanged). You should always receive information, e.g. by a text message where you can find such confirmation. Paid content must always be activated with your informed consent. If this was not the case, file a complaint about the telecommunication company – you can also notify UOKiK by writing to the address [SCODE]dW9raWtAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE].

Consumer support:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
 Email: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
 Consumer right advisers – in your city or county
 Office of Electronic Communications - Consumer Information Centre – 22 330 40 00

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: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL