Telekomunikacja Polska must pay over 4.2 million zloty as a fine for not executing the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. By delaying the organisation of a customer service system, in particular the “Blue Line”, the company has not performed the order of UOKiK - said Cezary Banasiński

In April 2004 the Office decided that the irregularities performed by Telekomunikacja Polska (Polish Telecom) when launching a new system of client relations management (based on the so-called “Blue Line”), infringe upon consumers’ interests and ordered that changes be introduced without delay. TP did not appeal UOKiK decision and announced that it would abide by it. Nevertheless, UOKiK keeps receiving complaints on the activity of the company. Basing on those, a procedure was initiated to verify the implementation of the decision of the Office by the telephone operator.

An analysis has shown that TP continues to restrict the subscribers in exercising their rights, for instance not allowing the staff of the “Blue Line” call centre to settle complaints, even if this does not require any additional explanation. Besides, reactions to written and telephone complaints and claims were not performed in a timely manner. Data held by the Office shows, that in some regions the number of negative signals on the activity of TP has not diminished and the claims are identical to those that appeared in the third quarter of 2003.

Moreover, consumer ombudsmen refer to complaints concerning lack of co-ordination among collection, repair and customer service departments and in effect complaints are settled in an inconsistent manner. The Office also receives signals - for instance from the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection - being evidence of difficulties with obtaining effective assistance in solving problems. Consumers frequently complain that the company has lost their documents, which much extends the settlement of claims.

The Act on competition and consumer protection provides penalties in a situation, when the enterprise does not execute the lawful administrative decision. Then, the imposed fines may be of up to EUR 10 000 for each day of delay. Considering the delay in the performance of the decision by Telekomunikacja Polska, and hardly any improvement in the situation of consumers, the President of the Office imposed the following fines on the company with the following daily rates:

• with reference to duties to be completed by 27 April 2004 -  EUR 500  (2,039.85 zloty),
• with reference to duties to be completed by 27 May 2004 - EUR 1,000  (4,079.70 zloty),
• with reference to duties to be performed by 27 June 2004 - EUR 1,500  (6,119.55 zloty).

In this connection, the penalties for non-performance of specific parts of the decision by the President of UOKiK amounted to:

Jointly, the penalty for Telekomunikacja Polska for non-performance of the outstanding decision amounted to over 4.2 million zloty. When taking decision on the amount of the penalty, the President of UOKiK allowed for a partial performance of the duties imposed on the company. TP, for instance, allowed direct client visits in Client Relations Centres in order to obtain post-sale service (advice, information, settlement of claims and complaints, etc.). Within the deadline specified in the decision, the company also organised an information campaign presenting the possibilities of contact with its staff (along with addresses, telephone and faks numbers); it also enabled its clients to submit complaints, claims, telephone defect or line transfer in an electronic form.

The decision may be appealed to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
International Relations and Communication Department
Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
(+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
E-mail: [SCODE]ZWFuZGVyc0B1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE]