The Ministry of Communications today announced that it intended to fine Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) NIS 906,000. This huge fine is being imposed because the Ministry of Communications believes that Bezeq misled customers who bought routers on the debit-credit track. The Ministry's announcement explained that in order to eliminate barriers preventing customers from switching between companies, and to encourage competition, it had ruled that if a customer cancels a communications agreement, he cannot be denied a benefit he would have received without the cancelation.
Bezeq's Internet customers joined a particular track in which they purchased a router and paid for it over 24 months. They were billed NIS 25 for the router, but were credited each month for the same amount for the router, so that they actually paid nothing for it.
The Ministry of Communications received complaints that customers who left the company before the end of the 24-month period of the agreement were no longer credited, meaning that they paid NIS 25 each month for the router until the end of the period.
The Ministry of Communications Oversight Division checked the complaints, evaluated Bezeq's conduct in the matter, and found that the NIS 25 payments constituted a barrier to switching companies by the customers, in violation of the provisions of the law. The Ministry of Communications therefore decided to fine Bezeq nearly NIS 1 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 20, 2015
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