Ireland’s largest mobile operator has been found to have charged roaming fees outside regulatory rules and has agreed to refund almost €900,000
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Vodafone has been ordered by the telecoms regulator, ComReg, to pay €894,000 to around 20,000 Irish customers who were charged roaming fees without due explanation.
The operator has agreed to the measure.
”As a result of its investigation, ComReg was of the view that Vodafone had not provided its customers with the correct information as required by Article 14 of the 2022 Roaming Regulation,” the telecoms regulator said today.
“Roaming providers are required to inform customers of the cost associated with each additional unit to be consumed prior to the customer continuing to use the roaming service beyond the default financial limits (€50 and €100).
“Specifically, ComReg was of the view that Vodafone customers had received notifications that did not include the costs associated with each additional unit to be consumed as required by the 2022 Roaming Regulation. These suspected breaches affected approximately 20,000 customers.”
The regulator said that Vodafone has agreed to refund customers, and it has agreed that it will “ensure that in future the notifications issued to customers when they reach both the €50 and the €100 default financial limits per monthly billing period include the per unit cost associated with each additional unit consumed whilst roaming”.
It is unclear whether each of the 20,000 customers will receive the same amount or whether it will vary according to what they paid over and above the default limits of €50 or €100.
Contacted by the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for Vodafone said that it was refunding the “historic” roaming charges.
”We recognise the importance of providing complete and timely cost information and apologise for any inconvenience caused in the past,” the spokesperson said.
“We are now proactively commencing the process of reimbursing customers for historic roaming charges in cases where spend caps were exceeded without customers being fully aware of the applicable costs.
“Following a comprehensive review of our roaming processes, in consultation with ComReg, we are introducing additional measures to further enhance cost transparency for customers. Roaming spend caps of €50 and €100 are already in place, with customers alerted as they approach these limits to help prevent bill shock.
“We will now update our roaming spend cap SMS notifications to clearly include the cost per unit (out of bundle when customers exceed their spend caps outside the EU. This will ensure customers have the information they need to make informed decisions and avoid unexpected charges when roaming.
“We have also updated our welcome messages for customers on Red Roaming to clearly outline the costs that apply when usage exceeds the daily 500MB data allowance.”
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This article was amended on December 22nd to include a response from Vodafone.
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