Consumer Protection Commission has taken decisive action to put an end to unfair practices by mobile operators

The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) has completed an important phase in the fight against unfair clauses, where telecom service providers unjustifiably demanded more than one penalty from consumers for early termination of contracts, exceeding the maximum cap of three standard monthly fees. The Commission reviewed the voluntary revisions to the unfair penalty clauses proposed by the operators and confirmed that the new terms comply with CPC recommendations.

In recent months, the CPC has made significant efforts to protect consumer rights by identifying and publicly condemning penalty clauses in the contracts of major service providers. These clauses, due to their lack of transparency and ambiguity, violated the Consumer Protection Act by imposing unreasonably high penalties on subscribers for early contract termination. After receiving clear and specific recommendations from the CPC, including meetings and dialogue with company representatives, the operators agreed to voluntarily amend the problematic terms.

The revised clauses eliminate the requirement for subscribers to repay discounts on monthly subscription fees or on purchased or leased devices in the form of penalties. The right of operators to claim the recovery of discounts has been refined to apply only to part of the discounts already provided, rather than future or prospective discounts, which was allowed under the previous terms.

Clear limits on penalties for early termination will be introduced—up to a maximum of three standard monthly fees—preventing abuses. The new terms will give consumers better clarity about their obligations and remove ambiguities that previously led to one-sided interpretations.

The revised clauses will apply to all active contracts as of the date the changes take effect, in accordance with the timelines set out in the Electronic Communications Act.

Unfortunately, these changes will not apply to contracts that have already been terminated or were terminated before the new terms take effect. To ensure the protection of this group of consumers, the CPC reminds that it has issued orders prohibiting the use of unfair commercial practices, barring operators from demanding more than one penalty or penalties exceeding the agreed maximum cap for early contract termination initiated by the consumer.

The purpose of these orders is to safeguard consumers from such unfair practices both before the contract is signed and during and after the execution of the contract.

If the orders are upheld as correct and lawful by the competent Bulgarian court, consumers will be able to exercise their rights under Article 68m of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

According to this provision, "The consumer has the right to a price reduction or to terminate the contract with the trader, concluded as a result of an unfair commercial practice, and to claim compensation for damages in accordance with the general procedure, when an order prohibiting the use of an unfair commercial practice issued by the chairperson of the Consumer Protection Commission is upheld by a final decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, the order has not been appealed within the statutory period, or the appeal has been withdrawn."