Subscribers Vectra they received letters informing them of the unilateral addition to the general terms and conditions of the contract, under which Vectra may increase the amount of the subscription once a year. According to the Office, the current contractual conditions did not provide for the entrepreneur’s right to introduce such provisions.
The president is already at this stage UOKiK he asked the operator from the so-called a soft call, in which he called for withdrawal from the changes that are yet to come into force, which would allow the company to avoid administrative proceedings. Vectra, however, ignored the soft speech.
Vectra customers with higher subscriptions
After a few months, customers received information that their monthly subscription had increased by PLN 5, even though the original contractual terms did not allow the operator to do so. As a consequence, customers who did not terminate the contract were forced by the entrepreneur to pay as much as PLN 60 more annually for telecommunications services.
– In our interventions on the market, we have repeatedly indicated that the change of essential conditions of an ongoing contract, such as the price of the service, can only take place if the contract expressly provides for it. This is precisely what modification clauses are used for, thanks to which the consumer, when concluding the contract, has information in which specific situations may occur, the modification of the conditions of the service provided, including its price. However, such provisions cannot be introduced unilaterally, i.e. from the position of the stronger party, which is the entrepreneur, says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.
Proceedings in the case of infringement of collective consumer interests may result in the imposition of a fine of up to 10%. trade, an order to discontinue the practice and remove its effects.
Vectra reports that it has 1.7 million customers, and with its network it reaches 4.5 million households. In 2019, the operator achieved an increase in consolidated revenues by 8.3%. to PLN 833.64 million and a decrease in net profit from PLN 64.42 to PLN 29.8 million.
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