Regulator slaps €1.5 million fines on telecoms service providers for undue cuts

  • Lusa
  • 2 February 2022

Anacom has imposed fines of €1.5 million on Meo (Altice Portugal), NOS and Vodafone for undue service cuts last year.

Telecoms regulator (Anacom) has imposed fines of €1.5 million on Meo (Altice Portugal), NOS and Vodafone for undue service cuts last year, the regulator disclosed Wednesday.

In a statement, Anacom points out that in 2021, it “applied fines totalling €1.5 million to Meo, NOS and Vodafone for non-compliance with the rules set out in the Electronic Communications Law applicable to the suspension and termination of services for non-payment of invoices”.

Meo’s fine of €712,000 “was applied in December 2021, for the practice of 104 offences”, says Anacom, noting that “in addition to the violations of the rules applicable to the suspension and termination of services provided for non-payment of invoices, in 2015 and 2016, Meo also proceeded with the unlawful suspension of services for high consumption”.

Meo, owned by Altice Portugal, has filed an appeal against Anacom’s decision with the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court (TCRS), the regulator said.

In the case of Vodafone, the regulator decided “impose a €425,000 fine” for 58 offences of violation of the rules on the suspension and termination of services provided for non-payment of invoices in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

NOS, meanwhile, “was fined 369,000 euros for 54 offences for violations of the same rules in 2015 and 2016”, details the regulator led by João Cadete de Matos.

“NOS and Vodafone have appealed Anacom’s decision to the TCRS,” it adds.

In the case of NOS, “the TCRS, by a sentence not yet final and unappealable, upheld the company’s conviction to pay the fine decided by Anacom, having, however, suspended its execution, for a period of two years, conditioned to the payment of certain amounts to subscribers.”

Regarding Vodafone, “the TCRS, by a sentence not yet final and unappealable, convicted the company for the practice of 43 offences, a fine of 280,000 euros, suspended in its execution as to the payment of a quarter of its value (70,000 euros), for a period of four years.

Anacom stresses that “in offence proceedings against Meo, NOS and Vodafone, the infringements were related to the abrupt suspension of subscribers’ services, for not having communicated to them the respective prior notice; to the non-mandatory suspension of services; and to the non-cancellation of the contract after the breach of one of the instalments of the payment agreement entered into with consumers”.

The rules on the suspension and termination of services provided “aim to protect users of the essential public electronic communications service and promote timely compliance with contracts concluded with consumers, avoiding indebtedness and thus increasing recourse to legal action to recover the respective credit”.

The regulator stresses that, “given the relevance of the protected interests and the situation of economic fragility in which many subscribers find themselves, Anacom will continue to pay special attention to this issue, especially after the repeal of the exceptional pandemic measures – currently in force until 31.03.2022”.

These exceptional measures prohibit operators from suspending the supply of services for lack of payment when this is due to situations of unemployment, a drop in household income of 20% or more or because of Covid-19 infection.