Subscriber MTS sued the company for raising tariffs
For the first time in Russian judicial practice, a subscriber was able to force a cellular company through court to reduce the cost of services. The courts of two instances in the Sverdlovsk region ruled in favor of the MTS client, restoring the original tariff and obliging MTS to return the overpayment. Experts surveyed by Kommersant note that this case will force cellular operators to more sensitively resolve the issue of changing tariffs for their service.
At the end of last week, the MTS branch in the Sverdlovsk region received several complaints from subscribers of the “Unlimited” tariff, which has risen in price from 9 October 2006 by 30% and in fact has ceased to be unlimited in general. The subscription fee has grown from 998 rubles. up to 1.3 thousand rubles, while for local calls a limit of 2 thousand minutes was set.
Claiming subscribers was pushed by a case won by lawyer Anatoly Bezrukov. On December 20, 2006, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Yekaterinburg satisfied his claim, obliging MTS to restore the original terms of the contract and return at least 1 thousand rubles. overpayments. On April 5, the Civil Affairs Board of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court agreed with this decision, and it entered into legal force.
Bezrukov was able to prove that by connecting to the “Unlimited” tariff plan, he could not assume that the operator would limit the number of minutes within six months and increase the monthly fee by 30% for no apparent objective reason. “MTS did not have any reason to unilaterally change the terms of the agreement concluded with me,” says Anatoly Bezrukov. “According to the Civil Code, subscriber and cellular operator agreements are considered interconnection agreements for which there is a rule: if the agreement contains conditions that are clearly burdensome for the subscriber, then the consumer has the right to request changes necessary for him.”
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A contract of accession is considered to be such a contract, the content of which is determined in advance by the company or bank providing services. Conditions are included in the standard form and the client cannot change them. This type includes the majority of contracts with consumers (both companies and citizens), as well as banking contracts. Article 428 of the Civil Code on the contract of accession allows citizens to seek the abolition or amendment of burdensome for them the conditions of contracts imposed by commercial firms. The law thereby protects citizens-consumers who are considered weaknesses.
The case that Bezrukov has won is fraught with problems for the cellular companies. In the middle of last year, they made a massive revision of tariffs in connection with the transition to the principle of "pays the caller." In particular, in most of the tariff plans the cost of the first minute of the call was increased. However, in the cellular companies do not expect a wave of lawsuits from subscribers. The MTS claims that mobile operators have the right to make changes to the procedure for the provision of services and their cost, notifying subscribers in advance. “This condition is contained in the text of the subscription contract, which is signed by the subscriber when connecting to the MTS network, and the company always notifies subscribers about changes in the service conditions on the tariff plans in advance, which was done in this case. I will note that in court practice there are cases when decisions were made in favor of mobile network operators in similar cases in other courts, ”said Elena Michkova, director of the legal department of the Ural macroregion branch of MTS OJSC. In "Megaphone" agree: the main thing - to warn the subscriber in advance.
According to Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the board of the Confederation of Consumer Societies, the court’s decision on the MTS tariff will not have serious consequences. In his opinion, only legally savvy subscribers have chances to sue the operator, since the right in Russia is not a precedent and it is impossible to refer to the previous court decision. “People will have to justify their point of view in court, and in the presence of high-class lawyers from the operator. In this regard, I do not expect a noticeable wave of lawsuits. In all likelihood, some subscribers will be able to sue the operator, but there will be no more than a thousand such cases, ”he said.
Source: www.newsru.com/finance/23apr2007/noway.html
At the end of last week, the MTS branch in the Sverdlovsk region received several complaints from subscribers of the “Unlimited” tariff, which has risen in price from 9 October 2006 by 30% and in fact has ceased to be unlimited in general. The subscription fee has grown from 998 rubles. up to 1.3 thousand rubles, while for local calls a limit of 2 thousand minutes was set.
Claiming subscribers was pushed by a case won by lawyer Anatoly Bezrukov. On December 20, 2006, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Yekaterinburg satisfied his claim, obliging MTS to restore the original terms of the contract and return at least 1 thousand rubles. overpayments. On April 5, the Civil Affairs Board of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court agreed with this decision, and it entered into legal force.
Bezrukov was able to prove that by connecting to the “Unlimited” tariff plan, he could not assume that the operator would limit the number of minutes within six months and increase the monthly fee by 30% for no apparent objective reason. “MTS did not have any reason to unilaterally change the terms of the agreement concluded with me,” says Anatoly Bezrukov. “According to the Civil Code, subscriber and cellular operator agreements are considered interconnection agreements for which there is a rule: if the agreement contains conditions that are clearly burdensome for the subscriber, then the consumer has the right to request changes necessary for him.”
')
A contract of accession is considered to be such a contract, the content of which is determined in advance by the company or bank providing services. Conditions are included in the standard form and the client cannot change them. This type includes the majority of contracts with consumers (both companies and citizens), as well as banking contracts. Article 428 of the Civil Code on the contract of accession allows citizens to seek the abolition or amendment of burdensome for them the conditions of contracts imposed by commercial firms. The law thereby protects citizens-consumers who are considered weaknesses.
The case that Bezrukov has won is fraught with problems for the cellular companies. In the middle of last year, they made a massive revision of tariffs in connection with the transition to the principle of "pays the caller." In particular, in most of the tariff plans the cost of the first minute of the call was increased. However, in the cellular companies do not expect a wave of lawsuits from subscribers. The MTS claims that mobile operators have the right to make changes to the procedure for the provision of services and their cost, notifying subscribers in advance. “This condition is contained in the text of the subscription contract, which is signed by the subscriber when connecting to the MTS network, and the company always notifies subscribers about changes in the service conditions on the tariff plans in advance, which was done in this case. I will note that in court practice there are cases when decisions were made in favor of mobile network operators in similar cases in other courts, ”said Elena Michkova, director of the legal department of the Ural macroregion branch of MTS OJSC. In "Megaphone" agree: the main thing - to warn the subscriber in advance.
According to Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the board of the Confederation of Consumer Societies, the court’s decision on the MTS tariff will not have serious consequences. In his opinion, only legally savvy subscribers have chances to sue the operator, since the right in Russia is not a precedent and it is impossible to refer to the previous court decision. “People will have to justify their point of view in court, and in the presence of high-class lawyers from the operator. In this regard, I do not expect a noticeable wave of lawsuits. In all likelihood, some subscribers will be able to sue the operator, but there will be no more than a thousand such cases, ”he said.
Source: www.newsru.com/finance/23apr2007/noway.html
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/7361/
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