SMS for Meter Readings and Internet Limits: What You Are Really Charged for
Disputes between subscribers and mobile operators are increasingly becoming the subject of court proceedings. Ukrainians challenge tariff increases, demand refunds for allegedly unauthorized charges, and try to claim significant compensation for mobile number disconnections. At the same time, judicial practice shows a consistent approach: the key factors are the terms of the contract, the procedure for informing the subscriber, and the presence of proper evidence of violations by the operator.
The "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" continues to analyze interesting cases where consumers tried to challenge tariff changes, recover deducted funds, or prove multimillion losses due to number blocking. These decisions help to understand how courts assess the rights and obligations of parties in the field of electronic communications and where the boundary lies between the operator's responsibility and the subscriber's prudence.
Case No. 674/69/25
The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeal considered a subscriber's claim against a mobile operator for the return of 67 UAH, which the plaintiff believed were unjustifiably charged for services he did not order.
The dispute concerned several types of charges: 20 UAH for the "App Club" service, 3 UAH for SMS messages to the short number 4647, 4 UAH for calls exceeding the package limit, and 40 UAH for mobile internet usage.
Regarding the "App Club" service, the court established that its activation occurred after the user clicked on the corresponding advertising banner on the Internet. The operator provided evidence of the service connection and confirmed that the subscriber received SMS notifications about the activation and the free trial period.
Since the plaintiff did not take advantage of the opportunity to disable the service after the free period ended, the court concluded that there was his tacit consent to continue using the service.
The court separately analyzed the charges for SMS to number 4647. It was established that this number is used by NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" to transmit meter readings. At the same time, the tariff of 1 UAH per message is set by the service recipient, not the mobile operator. Therefore, the court saw no grounds to hold the operator responsible.
Regarding charges for calls and mobile internet, the court found that the subscriber used a tariff plan that included a package of 50 minutes of calls and 5 GB of mobile internet. After exhausting the included volumes, further use of services was paid according to the tariff conditions: 1 UAH per minute of calls and 20 UAH per day for mobile internet access.
After examining the circumstances of the case and the evidence provided by the parties, the court concluded that all disputed charges were lawful and denied the claim.
A key factor in disputes regarding additional services is the subscriber's behavior after receiving information. Judicial practice confirms: if the subscriber received an SMS about the activation of the service and the procedure for its deactivation but did not take active steps to deactivate it and continued to use the connection, the transaction is considered approved through conclusive actions.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel t.me/sudua and to Google News SUD.UA, as well as to our VIBER and WhatsApp, our pages on Facebook and Instagram to stay informed about the most important events.
