Bulgaria’s Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) said on January 20 it will request the revocation of the licences of telecommunications companies operating in the country over “systematic violations”.

There are three telecommunications companies operating in Bulgaria – Yettel, Vivacom and A1.

In December, Yettel unilaterally increased the fees of its clients. In January, Vivacom did the same, while A1 announced it would not raise the fees.

CPC initially said there was no problem with Yettel’s decision but subsequently has changed its opinion. After Vivacom’s decision, the commission threatened to sue the company.

Over the past several years, the three telcos have been unilaterally increasing the fees for their existing clients by the same sums and in a similar period. Although there have been numerous signals that this practice is in violation of the competition protection law and administrative measures against them, the three companies have continued implementing the same decisions each year.

“The Consumer Protection Act imposes on the CPC the categorical obligation to take decisive action to protect the public interest. Among these actions is the right and obligation to propose the revocation of a license or permit to exercise activity when there is an enforceable penal decree for violation of the law. In the case of systematic violations of mobile operators, this mechanism is an extremely necessary measure to ensure respect for citizens' rights and ensure legality in the sector,” CPC’s chairman Maria Filipova said in a statement.

She added that a huge part of the claims submitted by consumers were against the three telecommunications companies.

“A huge share of the consumer complaints received are mainly related to the electronic communications services market and, in particular, to the activities of the three major mobile operators. The Commission's observations show that in recent years there has been no significant change in the direction of reducing the number of violations of consumer legislation committed by operators, despite the actions taken by the CPC to impose coercive administrative measures and property sanctions,” the statement noted.

Over the past five years, mobile operators have been sanctioned multiple times by CPC for the use of unfair practices violating consumers’ rights.

“Despite the repeated penal decrees that have entered into force, these operators continue to demonstrate persistent non-compliance with the regulatory framework, systematically violating consumer rights. This approach reveals not only a lack of respect for legislation, but also a deliberate disregard for the interests of the citizens they serve,” Filipova noted.

By the time of publication of this article there had been no responses from any of the three telecommunications companies.