Stampa

PS7704 - Antitrust action to accelerate the process of termination of postal current accounts and promote customers mobility


PRESS RELEASE


PRESS RELEASE


ANTITRUST ACTION TO ACCELERATE THE PROCESS OF TERMINATION OF POSTAL CURRENT ACCOUNTS AND PROMOTE CUSTOMERS MOBILITY

The commitments proposed by Poste Italiane S.p.A. were accepted and made binding.


No more obstacles or delays to the demands of consumers to cancel current accounts. The Antitrust Authority has accepted the commitments made by Poste Italiane S.p.A. considering them able to render effective the possibility to quickly terminate a current account agreement. This is the conclusion of the investigation launched in November last year to check for any misconduct on the closure of current accounts.

According to the Authority, the commitments submitted by Poste Italiane S.p.A. can remedy the possible illegalities of the commercial practice as they make it possible to accelerate the process of cancellation of current accounts and facilitate customer mobility. The mandatory measures require compliance with maximum deadlines for the closure of current accounts of 15 days, except in special cases. The company is committed to improving transparency about the steps necessary to close the account and to suspend the account charges from the day of the request for closure, ensuring the timely notification of the existence of possible impeding causes to the completion of the procedure.

Poste Italiane S.p.A. will no longer require a lump sum payment in case of insufficient balance at the time of submission of the application for account closing and will give notice of the effective date of termination of the relationship. It is finally ordered to ensure the reimbursement of expenses for maintenance of the current accounts incurred by consumers who proceeded to closing the account in the period between 1 September 2007 and the date of the decision of the Antitrust Authority, if for reasons attributable to Poste Italiane closure times exceeded the maximum closure deadlines stipulated in the said time interval.


Rome, 19 August 2014