Six customers have taken mobile phone providers A1 and Magenta to court and won. These mobile operators must refund the service costs.
One case is already legally binding, in the other the appeal period is still running, report “Kurier” and “Tiroler Tageszeitung”.
Hundreds of refunds have already been issued
In more than 250 cases, mobile phone operators A1, Magenta and Drei have avoided judgments by refunding the flat rate, said Viennese lawyer Matthias Strohmayer, confidential attorney of the Association for Consumer Information. Strohmayer would oversee more than 1,000 cases.
But the Chamber of Labor also filed a collective action in January this year against the flat-rate service charges of mobile phone providers. The verdicts are still pending here.
With the new rates, the fixed service rate is generally a thing of the past
Most mobile phone providers charge service costs once a year. They introduced this in 2011 with the approval of the responsible regulatory body RTR. After the Supreme Court annulled a similar levy on fitness centers about a year and a half ago, the discussion about flat-rate service charges for mobile communications flared up again.
After the first legal setbacks – litigation financiers already offer customers online chargeback options, see link box – the hated fee was abolished for most new contracts by mobile operators. But existing customers still pay them.
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.
