The Competition and Consumer Protection Office (UOKiK) has fined T-Mobile Polska PLN 25.62 million after ruling that advertisements for its prepaid offer with the slogan “1,200 GB free for a year” were misleading to consumers.
“Doubts were raised about advertisements for the prepaid offer ‘1200 GB free for a year’. These appeared, among other things, on billboards, city lights at public transport stops and in ATMs and payment terminals – in Polish and Ukrainian. the procedure in response to a consumer complaint. We have analyzed the advertising and promotion regulations,” we read in the statement.
According to the agency, the operator T-Mobile Polska misled consumers because the advertisements suggested that the data package was free. Instead of the promised 1,200 GB package, the consumer even received 100 GB every month, provided he topped up the account for at least PLN 35 per month. After a year, the amount he had to top up on his card would be PLN 420. However, this information was written in small font at the bottom of the ad.
Punishment for T-Mobile
– Advertising slogans are intended to attract the consumer’s attention so that he is remembered and enticed to purchase the advertised service. As a rule, the advertising message must be short, concise and clear. However, this does not give entrepreneurs permission to use false advertising. The consumer has the right to expect that the offer offered is fair and contains no strings attached. The actual promotional mechanism of T-Mobile Polska was based on an “installment system”, where the consumer received a 100 GB package every month for twelve months, provided that the card was topped up by at least 35 PLN – said Tomasz Chróstny, Chairman of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, quoted in the press release.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Office also announced that information about the decision of the President of the Office will be published on T-Mobile Polska’s website and will appear on the operator’s social media profiles. It will be in two language versions: Polish and Ukrainian, because consumers who spoke this language were also deceived. The decision is not final: the operator can appeal to the court.
T-Mobile is an operator with more than 12.5 million customers. The company creates a network thanks to solutions such as fiber optic infrastructure, converged services, 5G network, entertainment services, cloud solutions, data centers and cybersecurity services for private individuals and companies.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
