Case law

  • Case Details
    • National ID: Administrative case 4078/2015
    • Member State: Bulgaria
    • Common Name:link
    • Decision type: Supreme court decision
    • Decision date: 18/01/2016
    • Court: Supreme Administrative Court
    • Subject:
    • Plaintiff: Bulgarian Telecommunication Company AD
    • Defendant: Bulgarian Consumer Protection Commission
    • Keywords: material information, misleading omissions, mobile phone services
  • Directive Articles
    Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 7, 1. Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Chapter 2, Section 1, Article 7, 2.
  • Headnote
    (1) The fact that a mobile phone offered for sale to consumers can be used only with a SIM card of the same mobile operator represents material information that the average consumer needs in order to take an informed transactional decision. The failure of the trader to provide this information in a timely manner qualifies as misleading omission within the meaning of Directive 2005/29/EC.

    (2) The fact that this material information is presented on the official website of the mobile operator does not exclude the trader’s liability for unfair commercial practice.

  • Facts
    The plaintiff offered for sale dual SIM mobile phones. However, upon purchasing the product the consumers were not informed that in order for the mobile phones to be used it is a mandatory condition that one of the two SIM cards should be a SIM card of the plaintiff. This information was only made available on the plaintiff’s website and not in the shops where the mobile phones were offered for sale.

    The Consumer Protection Commission held that this manner of advertising was misleading and issued an order establishing that the plaintiff used unfair commercial practice because essential product information was withheld from consumers which were, in this way, misled while taking a transactional decision. The plaintiff appealed this order before Sofia Administrative Court but the court rejected the appeal as ungrounded. As a final resort, the plaintiff appealed the first instance court’s judgment before the Supreme Administrative Court.
  • Legal issue
    The Supreme Administrative court held that:

    (i) The fact that a dual mobile phone can function only if one of its SIM cards is purchased from a particular mobile operator represents a key feature which is equal in importance to the main technical characteristics of the product. Consumers should be informed about this important restriction of the functionality of the product in a timely manner.

    (ii) The trader’s failure to provide information about key features of the product at the point of sale qualifies as a misleading omission because not all of the consumers are supposed to use or have access to internet and as a general rule consumers should not be expected to perform additional online checks in order to familiarize themselves with all relevant charecteristics of the product.

  • Decision

    (1) Does the fact that a mobile phone can function only on condition that one of its SIM cards is provided by the same mobile operator represent a key feature of the product?

    (2) Does a trader’s failure to provide information regarding key features of its products at its points of sale, qualify as a misleading omission, even if the information is available through other sources such as its website?

    URL: http://www.sac.government.bg/court22.nsf/d038edcf49190344c2256b7600367606/2886a84f657c665ec2257f3e004309a7?OpenDocument

    Full text: Full text

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  • Result
    The court upheld the first instance court’s judgment that rejected the plaintiff’s appeal.