FAS initiates cases against MTS, MegaFon, Beeline
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 9:57 am
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The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has found that telecom operators MTS and MegaFon violated antimonopoly legislation. Back in August 2024, the FAS initiated cases against the operators for failure to comply with previously issued warnings about the cancellation of additional fees for subscribers for using communication services in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The agency found that charging additional fees in the absence of economic, technological or other justification infringes on the interests of subscribers.
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The companies did not bahrain whatsapp resourcecomply with the department's warning. The telecom operators were supposed to cancel the additional fee on top of the subscription fee when located in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
"Failure to comply with a legal order of the FAS Russia within the specified time period entails liability under Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. In addition, for a violation already committed, expressed in abuse of a dominant position in the commodity market, operators will be brought to administrative liability under Article 14.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of 15,000 to 20,000 rubles, on legal entities - from 300,000 to 1 million rubles - ComNews note )," recalled a representative of the press service of the FAS Russia.
Also, in August 2024, the FAS recognized PJSC VimpelCom (brand - Beeline) as a violator. However, as part of the case, the company announced a voluntary cancellation of the markup and bringing tariffs to the level of the home region from January 1, 2025. The implementation period is technologically determined by the configuration of the operator's billing system. In this regard, the FAS did not issue an order to the operator, unlike MTS and MegaFon.
"MTS has not yet received the decision and order from the FAS. We will make a decision on further steps to interact with the regulator once we have reviewed the documents," a representative of the MTS press service told a ComNews correspondent.
A representative of the press service of PJSC MegaFon is also not yet ready to comment on the FAS decision, but explained the reasons for the difficulties with the cancellation of the additional fee: "We will be ready to comment on the FAS decision after receiving it in full along with the rationale. But we consider it necessary to note that we work in Crimea through the infrastructure of local operators and bear direct costs for roaming of our subscribers. The costs of communication for subscribers directly depend on the price of services of these operators. We are in constant dialogue with local operators on reducing prices, which ultimately affects the cost of roaming for our subscribers."
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia has found that telecom operators MTS and MegaFon violated antimonopoly legislation. Back in August 2024, the FAS initiated cases against the operators for failure to comply with previously issued warnings about the cancellation of additional fees for subscribers for using communication services in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The agency found that charging additional fees in the absence of economic, technological or other justification infringes on the interests of subscribers.
Read also
The companies did not bahrain whatsapp resourcecomply with the department's warning. The telecom operators were supposed to cancel the additional fee on top of the subscription fee when located in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
"Failure to comply with a legal order of the FAS Russia within the specified time period entails liability under Article 19.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. In addition, for a violation already committed, expressed in abuse of a dominant position in the commodity market, operators will be brought to administrative liability under Article 14.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (imposition of an administrative fine on officials in the amount of 15,000 to 20,000 rubles, on legal entities - from 300,000 to 1 million rubles - ComNews note )," recalled a representative of the press service of the FAS Russia.
Also, in August 2024, the FAS recognized PJSC VimpelCom (brand - Beeline) as a violator. However, as part of the case, the company announced a voluntary cancellation of the markup and bringing tariffs to the level of the home region from January 1, 2025. The implementation period is technologically determined by the configuration of the operator's billing system. In this regard, the FAS did not issue an order to the operator, unlike MTS and MegaFon.
"MTS has not yet received the decision and order from the FAS. We will make a decision on further steps to interact with the regulator once we have reviewed the documents," a representative of the MTS press service told a ComNews correspondent.
A representative of the press service of PJSC MegaFon is also not yet ready to comment on the FAS decision, but explained the reasons for the difficulties with the cancellation of the additional fee: "We will be ready to comment on the FAS decision after receiving it in full along with the rationale. But we consider it necessary to note that we work in Crimea through the infrastructure of local operators and bear direct costs for roaming of our subscribers. The costs of communication for subscribers directly depend on the price of services of these operators. We are in constant dialogue with local operators on reducing prices, which ultimately affects the cost of roaming for our subscribers."