The Israel Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority announced to Hot Net Internet Services Ltd. its intention to impose a financial sanction of NIS 2,483,676 after finding that there is reasonable grounds to believe that it violated the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law, 1981.
It should be emphasized that the company has the right to be heard according to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law before a final decision is made in the matter, and it is entitled to raise legal and factual claims, both against the intention to impose a financial sanction and regarding its amount.
Background:
The company is a telecommunications company that provides internet services, and it is one of the companies in the “Hot” group that provides communication services, television, telephone, and cellular services.
The Authority received complaints from consumers against the company, from which it emerged that when consumers requested to disconnect from the company’s services, the company did not act to disconnect the consumers as required by law (3 days from the date of the disconnection request), and even continued to charge consumers after the date of the disconnection request, for extended periods. In light of this, the Authority opened an investigation.
Findings of the Authority’s Investigation:
- Section 13D(c) of the Law states that in the case of a continuous transaction, the consumer may cancel the transaction at any time, and the transaction contract will terminate within 3 business days from the date the cancellation notice was delivered.
- At the time of cancellation, the dealer will cease providing the service and in any case will not charge the consumer for payment after the date of cancellation.
- The investigation reveals that many consumers requested to cancel their engagement with the company, but despite their explicit request, the company did not disconnect them from its services, and even continued to charge these consumers for the service after the date of their cancellation request to the company.
- Among the consumers who complained to the Authority, there were dozens of consumers for whom the disconnection date was more than a year, and even more, from the moment they requested to disconnect from the company’s services until the actual disconnection by the company.
Sections of the Consumer Protection Law that were violated:
- Section 13D(C) of the Law – Non-cancellation of a transaction on time – Section 13D(C) of the Law states that a contract for a continuous transaction will terminate within three business days from the date the cancellation notice was delivered. At the time of cancellation, the dealer will cease providing the goods or services, and it is forbidden to charge the consumer for goods or services provided after the date the consumer notified of their desire to cease the transaction.
Kobi Zrihan, the Supervisor of the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority:
“The law explicitly states that within three days of a consumer’s disconnection request in a continuous transaction, the company must disconnect the consumer from its services. In this case, we encountered dozens of cases where the disconnection date was more than a year, this is very serious and harms consumer rights under the law and consumer trust. The Authority will continue to act against those dealers who do not comply with the law and harm consumers.”
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