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TELE2-CONTRATTI A DISTANZA


PRESS RELEASE



PRESS RELEASE

COMMUNICATIONS: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY FINES OPITEL S.P.A. (FORMERLY TELE2 ITALIA S.P.A.) OVER IMPROPER COMMERCIAL PRACTICE

Tele2 activated telephony services not knowingly requested by the subscriber or with characteristics different from those promised without offering the user the possibility of delaying the startup procedure for the service beyond the time of the telephone recording of the user's consent, and handled complaints in a tardy fashion. Fine of Euro 165,000.

The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 16 October 2008, decided to fine Tele2 S.p.A. for improper commercial practices; the fine of Euro 215,000 was reduced to Euro 165,000 because of the company's collaborative attitude.

The Antitrust Authority held that Tele2 S.p.A. had taken steps to acquire telephone contracts through its call center, by way of the internet or using agents, without having first obtained the users' consent, and established a timeframe and manner for the exercise of the right to withdrawal which heavily conditioned consumers' choices; these practices were adjudged aggressive. Furthermore, the company provided misleading or incomplete information regarding some services.

TELE2 S.p.A.'S CONDUCT

In the Antitrust Authority's view, Tele2 S.p.A. violated its duty of professional diligence in the following ways:

  1. by activating telephony services not knowingly requested by the subscriber;
  2. by limiting the manner of and time for exercising the right of withdrawal;
  3. by activating services different from those promised.
Specifically, in the cases examined by the Authority, this company induced consumers to believe that the usage contract would enter into force only after the signing of the forms sent to the user's home address, without clarifying that the voice recording of consent meant that the contract had already been concluded. In numerous cases consumers realized they had changed phone companies only when they began receiving Tele2 bills.

The company also did not allow consumers to choose, based on their own interests and requirements, between the immediate activation procedure set in motion by their telephone consent and the possibility of delaying the order until a later date.

The investigation also found that in a number of reported cases there was a divergence between the information provided verbally at the time the contract was proposed and the information contained in the contractual documentation subsequently sent by mail.

The Authority punished this practice with a fine of Euro 215,000, reduced to Euro 165,000 because of the company's collaborative behaviour: from April 2008, it took steps to improve its process for the acquisition of new customers using online methods.

Rome, 31 October 2008