• UPC’s customers had to pay more for termination of agreement concluded for a definite period than they would have to pay for its continuation.
• Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, ordered UPC Polska to terminate such practice and reimburse consumers for wrongfully collected fees.
• The President of the Competition Authority imposed a fine of more than PLN 12.5 million on the company.

UPC Polska is a company that provides telecommunications services to consumers, such as Internet access, cable television and fixed telephony services. UOKiK received numerous notifications of wrongful charging and collection of abnormally high fees when a consumer opts out from services before the expiry of an agreement concluded for one or two years – that is for a definite period.

In accordance with the telecommunications law, if the agreement concluded for a definite period is terminated, the amount receivable due to its termination by or for reasons attributable to a subscriber cannot exceed the amount of the awarded benefit reduced proportionately to the period from agreement execution until its termination.

The notifications received by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection mostly concerned very high fees charged by UPC. One of the telecom’s subscribers provided the following description of his situation: “I wanted to terminate early my agreement with UPC. When I called the service provider, I was told that if I terminated the agreement in August 2022, the penalty would be PLN 11,000. The agreement was concluded in March 2021 for two years. The cost of the entire agreement was some PLN 3,100.” Similar situations were reported by other affected consumers: “We were notified that the fee would be PLN 4,000. The amount to be paid for agreement termination is absolutely inadequate to the price of the service – at present we pay PLN 60 for internet access, so the remaining amount payable until agreement expiration would be PLN 900.”

The President of UOKiK held that by charging excessive fees for early termination of an agreement, the company infringes upon the collective interests of consumers. The company uses an unfair market practice when setting the amount of the benefit. As a result, UPC’s claim at the time of resignation from its services by a customer before the expiry of the agreement significantly exceeded the fees to be paid by the consumer, had they paid the monthly subscription fee until the end of the agreement term. On a positive note, in many cases the company did not collect the claim in the originally charged amount. However, customers were not aware of that, which influenced their decision to continue the agreement.

“The practice employed by UPC Polska affects thousands of Polish consumers. The company overstates the benefits awarded to customers, on the basis of which the fee for agreement termination is calculated. Therefore, the company de facto forces consumers to continue their agreements – many of them did not decide to terminate the contractual relationship for fear of a high charge for such termination. UPC Polska’s behavior is unacceptable not only in economic, but also in social terms. UPC must abandon the unfair practice and reimburse consumers for the amount which exceeded total subscription fees remaining until the end of the agreement term,” explained Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The President of the Competition Authority imposed a fine on UPC Polska in the amount of PLN 12,585,082. When the decision becomes final, subscribers will receive a refund of wrongfully collected fees. UPC will notify consumers by text message or e-mail of the action they need to take to receive the funds wrongfully collected by the company.

The decision will need to be published on the company’s website. The decision may be appealed against to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Consumer Support:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 222 66 76 76 – consumer helpline
E-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer advocates – in your town or district
Office of Electronic Communications – Consumer Information Centre – 22 330 40 00

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