Just two days after what ANPC fined Vodafone with the amount of 50.000 lei for incorrect commercial practices, now it is ANCOM's turn to apply a fine of 100.000 lei. This time the fine applied by Vodafone is based on the non-application of the maximum ceiling for mobile Internet traffic made in roaming by the operator's customers.
According to those from ANCOM, Vodafone did not apply a legal provision that obliges the operator to block internet traffic made by customers when the amount of 50 euros of additional cost is reached. This ceiling was established by a directive of the European Commission and is mandatory for all operators operating in the European Union.
Those from ANCOM list below the beneficiaries of some Vodafone services that were affected by the non-application of this platform for mobile internet roaming. Basically, Vodafone let its customers do whatever internet traffic they want in roaming and probably charged them accordingly, but everything is contrary to the legal provisions, so the fine of 100.000 LEI is justified.
Vodafone, the third mobile phone operator in Romania in terms of number of customers and receipts, thus received fines worth 150.000 LEI in the course of just two days. The sum is a large one and will probably motivate someone from the management to change the practices aimed at taking advantage of the customers who hope to get good services, not the fraudsters from Vodafone.
ANCOM sanctions non-application of the maximum ceiling for roaming mobile internet
The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) fined Vodafone Romania SA with a contravention fine of 100.000 lei for not applying the financial or maximum volume ceiling that would limit roaming data consumption to the default cost of 50 euros /month (without VAT) or at another level chosen by users from those made available by their own supplier. Established by Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012, the maximum ceiling must be applied by providers who offer roaming data services to all users of these services, including those who have opted for packages/extra options that contain roaming data resources. The maximum cap was set to protect users from the shock of high bills that roaming data consumption can generate.
Affected users
The control action carried out by ANCOM following a notification received during this year showed that Vodafone did not apply and did not make available at least a financial or maximum volume ceiling for roaming data communication services in the case of the following categories of subscribers:
ˇ beneficiaries of the "Roaming per day" offer (in the countries where the "Roaming per day" offer applies), an option introduced by Vodafone in its commercial offer starting on July 1, 2012;
ˇ whose tariff plan includes roaming benefits, such benefits being introduced by Vodafone in its commercial offer starting on February 3, 2014 and currently available in certain variants of the RED/SUPER RED type tariff plans, etc.
Not applying the roaming data cap violates the provisions of EU Regulation no. 531/2012 and constitutes a contravention according to the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011. Consequently, ANCOM fined the Vodafone operator 100.000 lei and ordered a series of measures to remedy the situation.
Indemnification for users
The operator must return to the two categories of subscribers mentioned above, upon request, in accordance with the law, any amount paid by them above the level of 50 Euro/month (without VAT) for roaming data consumption carried out starting from July 1 2012 and until now. They have the right to a refund of the amounts paid in addition, including those who, at the time of the request, are no longer Vodafone subscribers.
The procedure that users can follow to obtain the refund of these amounts must be displayed by the operator on its own website, in the Roaming section, and the two categories of affected subscribers must be informed individually about the possibility of receiving these amounts under the law.
At the same time, until December 1, 2016 at the latest, Vodafone has the obligation to make available to these categories of subscribers an information service regarding the cumulative consumption expressed in volume or in the currency in which the bill is issued, which thus guarantees data cap application. Also until this date, the operator has the obligation not to charge the two categories of subscribers any amount that exceeds the amount of 50 Euro/month (without VAT) for roaming data communication services.
Capping data consumption in roaming
According to Regulation (EU) no. 531/2012, users traveling abroad have the right to benefit from an implicit financial "ceiling" when using the roaming data service (including mobile internet), beyond which access to this service is automatically blocked, except in cases where the customer explicitly express their consent for continuing to use the services and exceeding the ceiling. In order to avoid the shock of high bills resulting from the use of data services abroad, if users do not explicitly opt for another ceiling from the commercial offer of the operators or do not expressly renounce default ceiling, operators are obliged to automatically apply the default financial ceiling, whose value is 50 euros/month (without VAT), or a ceiling expressed in data volume that corresponds to a maximum amount of 50 euros/month (without VAT) .
In addition, operators have the obligation to warn users, by means of text messages, emails or pop-up windows, when the value of the recorded consumption reaches 80% of the financial or maximum volume ceiling, as well as when the value established by the ceiling is consumed. The message that signals the consumption of the amount of traffic included in the ceiling must also contain information on the procedure to be followed in order to continue to benefit from roaming data services, as well as the additional costs per unit of consumption. If the user does not follow this procedure, the data roaming service must be stopped by the operator.
