Earlier, the FAS initiated an antimonopoly case against the Russian telecom operator MTS. According to the department, the company unreasonably increased the cost of services for subscribers. On October 12, the commission of the department found MTS PJSC guilty.
In January 2022, MTS increased prices for communication services by an average of 9.5%. This affected more than 28 million subscribers. The company justified the increase by increasing its costs. However, MTS never sent the FAS documents confirming the increase in costs in an amount sufficient to justify the increase in tariff plans.
Then in August 2022, the company increased the cost of some tariffs again by an average of 8.4%. For other tariffs, MTS again increased prices in September and October 2022 by an average of 9.7%.
In total, 28 million subscribers in 2022 were forced to pay 20% more for communication than at the end of 2021. At the same time, the level of the consumer price index as of the end of August amounted to 10.5%.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation found in the actions of the operator signs of a violation of paragraph 1 of part 1 of Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition. The agency came to the conclusion that “an increase in tariffs in the absence of technological, economic and other justification violates the interests of consumers.”
On October 12, the Commission of the department found MTS PJSC guilty of setting and maintaining a monopoly high price for its services. The operator received an order from the department on the need to reduce tariffs, the cost of which was increased, to an economically justified level.
The amount of the fine for the company will be determined during the administrative investigation in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 14.31 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation.
As evidence of the fact of tariff increases (twice in 2022), we provide screenshots of MTS notifications. The tariff from 498 rubles in January 2022 went up first by 50 rubles, and from October 10 by another 46 rubles. No comment.