Poland - Misleading advertisements

The President of UOKiK constantly monitors the market of telecommunication services paying special attention to the content of advertising campaigns promoting new services. Only last year the Office carried out about 20 proceedings regarding advertisements, one of them related to the activities of PTC (Era network operator).

Last November, UOKiK initiated proceedings against Era operator. The fastest Internet connection in a mobile phone. No limits. For PLN 5 – this way the operator encouraged its consumers to use the new service. On the basis weaker market participants could have been convinced that they would be able to use the Internet without any limits and at a very low price. However, the company failed to point out that the regulation on providing the service determined the monthly restriction on data transmission (up to 50 MB in each settlement period) and the promotional subscription fee was binding only in the first three settlement periods. The President of the Office stated that the advertisements of the operator’s services misled the consumers and imposed on PCT a fine which amounted to PLN 8,729,993.

The Office was also concerned about the campaigns of Aster, which promoted telephone, analogue television and Internet services. The advertisements used statements based on the pattern: X months for PLN Y, which misled the consumers regarding the real offer duration. When reading the offer, the consumer may have concluded that one settlement period was one full month - additional 30 days from the date of the contract conclusion – if the consumer signed the agreement on 15th January he/she could have expected that the promotional offer, under the slogan e.g. two months for PLN 1, would be available until 15th March. However, the Office discovered that the operator recognised the first day of the month on which the provision of the service began as the first day of the settlement period. Hence, if the consumer concluded the contract mid-month, he/she “lost” 15 days of promotion. The President of the Office decided that the messages contained in the operator’s advertisement misled the consumers and imposed a fine in the amount of PLN 390,720.

The President of UOKiK also accused Vobis of using unlawful practices. The company advertised a mobile Internet service available along with a portable computer for PLN 1. On the basis of the message repeated in the media, the consumers may have had the impression that they would buy a computer together with a modem at a favourable price. In fact, the modem cost PLN 1 only when the consumer bought a computer at the market prices in one of Vobis shops. According to UOKiK, both the company’s slogan used in the advertising campaign – Notebook with an iPlus modem for PLN 1, and graphical elements applied in the campaign may have misled the consumers – the inscription PLN 1 appeared on the laptop screen and not on the modem. For misleading the consumers the company was punished with a financial sanction in the amount of PLN 177,034.

For more information, please go to: http://www.uokik.gov.pl/news.php?news_id=1926.