PRESS RELEASE: Monthly Monitoring Report No. 06/2020

Prague, 18 June 2020 – Today, CTU published its regular monthly monitoring report of June. Beside the changes of several conditions of the 5G frequencies auction, we inform about the conditions of credit refund for pre-paid services when switching an operator.

As of 1 April, should the consumer decide to switch from one provider of electronic communications services to another, they can receive a refund of unused credit for pre-paid services. However, CTU warns, that the refund is not processed automatically when porting a telephone number to a different provider; consumers have to ask the abandoned provider for the refund, doing so within 30 days after termination of the contract.

CTU also warns, that the refund of unused credit can be charged, but only if it was agreed in contractual terms and conditions. The act does not define a single fee, nor does it limit its amount, but it sets a condition; the fee must correspond to the costs demonstrably incurred by providers when refunding an unused credit. CTU is currently verifying, whether the amount of fees charged by some providers complies with the rules. However, all three major operators announced, after the investigation has been initiated, that they decided to stop charging the fees.

The monitoring report is available here.

Press Unit
Czech Telecommunication Office