The consumer advocates of the AK want to have the flat-rate service charges that mobile phone providers have been charging for more than ten years in court. This week they filed representative actions against A1, Magenta and Drei. In the opinion of the AK, no specific attention is paid to the fixed rate. If this is successful, mobile telephony providers will face refunds of hundreds of millions of euros.
“We don’t know exactly what it is being charged for, so we consider it inadmissible,” says Gabriele Zgubic, head of consumer policy at AK Vienna, in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal” about the service fees, which range between 25 and 50 euros . 35 euros per year, depending on the operator amounts. “If services are mentioned, they are services that are not often or never used, or that actually require little effort,” she criticizes. The lawsuit not only concerns mobile phone rates, but also landline rates.
Unclear conversations with mobile operators
Discussions between representatives of the mobile communications industry and consumer advocates about the flat-rate service charges were still unsuccessful after a year. A ruling from a year and a half ago now makes Zgbuic optimistic about the lawsuit: at the time, the Supreme Court (OGH) annulled such additional fees for fitness centers.
The mobile phone providers have stated that this ruling could not apply to them. There are indeed specific services for the flat-rate service costs, says an A1 spokesperson in the “Kurier”. He referred to blocking options to prevent “shock bills.” Drei argued that the fixed service fee had been agreed with customers over the years in coordination with the telecommunications regulator and based on applicable case law.
Klaus Steinmaurer, RTR’s director for the telecommunications and postal division, said: “From the current perspective, we believe that the flat-rate service charges are legally permissible. Naturally, a court must now rule on this and that could lead to a reassessment.” Not The “correct approach” is to apply the statement about fitness centers to the telecommunications industry.
The first recoveries were successful
The AK is confident that a lawyer has already filed more than 190 lawsuits in the courts. No judgments have ever been handed down, but the mobile phone operators have apparently complied with the lawyers’ demands time and time again. When asked why they always agreed to a settlement, Drei said: They work customer-oriented and focus on solutions outside the court.
If the service charges are declared illegal by the court, refunds will be an issue. The amount of this partly depends on the limitation period set by the OGH in the event that the levy is unlawful. “We assume it will go to the Supreme Court,” Zgubic said. Magenta and Drei are now waiving service fees on some rates.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
