Poland: Era, Aster and Vobis fined for misleading adverts

Mobile phone operator Era, TV cable operator Aster and IT equipment store Vobis have been fined a total of more than PLN 9 million (c. € 2.6 million) by UOKiK, Poland’s Competition Authority, for practices infringing collective consumer interests.

Era and Vobis are also obliged to run an announcement of the decision in a daily newspaper and to publish the decision on their website for six months.

Era was fined PLN 8,729,993 (c €2.2 million) for an advert claiming: “The fastest Internet on your mobile. Without limit. For only PLN 5.”. UOKiK ruled that this was deceitful in not mentioning that the low price only applied for three months or that there was 50MB monthly transfer limit.

Aster was fined PLN 390,720 (c. € 100,000) for an advert that did not clearly state the contract length to which its offer applied.

Vobis was fined PLN 177,034 (c. € 60,000) for an advert claiming: “Mobile Internet service with a notebook for only PLN 1.”. UOKiK ruled that this was unfair as consumers could only buy a modem for PLN 1 if they also bought a notebook at market price.

None of the decisions are final. The companies have a right of appeal to the Court for Competition and Consumer Protection.