European regulators believe operators have a responsibility to support struggling households, which includes removing early termination charges
Operators failed to inform customers of price increases: On 14 November 2022, Portuguese regulator ANACOM issued over €15m in fines to the country’s four main telcos, MEO (€6.7m), NOS (€5.2m), Vodafone (€3.1m) and Nowo (€664,000), for breaching rules relating to the communication of price rises – and for failing to provide information to ANACOM itself. According to the regulator, subscribers were not made suitably aware of the right to terminate their contracts without charge if they did not agree with price increases imposed by their operator. In a number of cases, consumers were only informed of how much the price of their tariffs would go up long after they were told an increase was to happen at all.
ANACOM’s fines are equal to five times the total imposed in 2021: MEO, NOS and Vodafone have all stated that they disagree with ANACOM’s ruling and will legally contest the fines. Though this is not the first time Portuguese operators have been subject to financial penalties, the collective amount (€15m) is five times the total figure imposed by the regulator in the whole of 2021. Last year, ANACOM concluded 329 investigations, of which 45% ended with the application of fines – equal to €3m overall. The largest single fine (€1.5m) was imposed on MEO, NOS and Vodafone for non-compliance with rules governing the disconnection of services for consumers that miss payments. With price increases one of the most complained about issues in the sector, telcos should expect close oversight from ANACOM on how they communicate with their customers – and the prospect of further sanctions if this is not seen to improve.
Regulators expect telcos to support struggling households: In delivering its ruling, ANACOM highlighted that the fines have been imposed during a period of high inflation and an increased cost of living for consumers. Consequently, the regulator urged operators to mitigate the impact of price rises on households, particularly as telecoms services’ share of monthly spending is already higher in Portugal than the EU average. ANACOM also suggested operators direct customers to more affordable plans and remove early termination charges on the country’s regulated social broadband tariff. Similar recommendations have recently been made in the UK, with Ofcom asking telcos to recognise the unique economic environment, adding that implementing inflation-linked price rises next April would be “irresponsible”. Meanwhile, the BIPT is keen that Belgian consumers also play their part, revealing that savings of up to €20 per month are achievable if users are prepared to shop around.
