Vodacom slapped with R1m fine over fixed-term contracts
The National Consumer Tribunal has handed telecommunications giant Vodacom a R1 million fine for imposing terms and conditions that prevented consumers from cancelling their fixed-term contracts.
The National Consumer Commission says that during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years, they received numerous complaints of alleged contravention of various sections of the Consumer Protection Act by Vodacom.
Vodacom would not allow consumers to cancel their fixed-term contracts by imposing a cancellation penalty of 75%.
Acting National Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza says Vodacom also required payment of all outstanding fees and the cancellation penalty before contracts could be terminated on request.
“The NCC received the bulk of these complaints during the pick of Covid-19 when many complainants lost their jobs or their salaries were cut, making it impossible for them to proceed with the Sim Only contracts.
"Vodacom failed to cancel consumers’ contracts timeously after having been notified by consumers and as required by the CPA, thus contravening Section 14(2) (b)(i)(bb)."
“The commission welcomes this judgment as we believe that it is going to deter other suppliers/operators from engaging in the same conduct. We further see this as a victory for South African consumers who for the longest period were subjected to contracts that were in favour of the supplier,” he said.
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