Orange. The largest mobile phone operator in Romania received a huge fine for our country from the Competition Council, this being the second large fine applied to the company for the way it carries out its activity in our country. The Competition Council fined Orange 1% of the value of the company's annual revenues for 2017, i.e. a little over 10 million euros, for total receipts of 1 billion euros in Romania.
Orange. 10 million euros is a fine that the operator "feels", compared to the fines of tens of thousands of LEI applied by ANPC, or ANCOM, and this could convince those there to have practices closer to law. The fine imposed against those from Orange was based on the abuse of the dominant position it has in the payment market, but also in the one for SMS advertising, but of course the operator will attack it in court.
Orange. RECORD FINE from the Competition Council
Orange. The Competition Council discovered a discriminatory treatment that the operator had towards companies that collect payments via SMS from mobile phones, but also towards those that advertise via SMS in Romania. Of course, a legal process will begin from here, through which Orange will try to reduce the amount of the fine, or to obtain its cancellation in court, but in the past it was not very lucky in similar cases in which it was fined.
Orange. In 2011, the operator received an even bigger fine, of approximately 35 million euros, which was reduced to 25 million euros, following a decision that became final only in 2018. Now, since the fine is applied in 2018 , it is possible that Orange will end up paying it in another 6-7 years, following long processes, but everything also depends on how convincing the evidence collected by the Competition Council is.
