South Africa's mobile network, Vodacom was issued with an administrative fine of R1 million.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) says 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%.
The spokesperson for the NCC Phetho Ntaba says Vodacom also required payment of all outstanding fees and the cancellation penalty before contracts could be terminated on request.
She says consumers were coerced to sign the acceptance quotation letter that was valid for 12 days and had to return the letter to Vodacom with proof of payment.
Ntaba says the matter was referred to the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) which found Vodacom's conduct unconscionable.
The Acting National Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza says their investigation revealed that Vodacom had engaged in prohibited conduct by contravening Section 14 of the CPA read with Regulation 5.
She says the bulk of these complaints were received during the peak of COVID-19 when many complainants lost their jobs or their salaries were cut, making it impossible to proceed with their Sim-Only contracts.
