Hrvatski Telekom faces record fine
October 16, 2019 08.10 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul
The Croatian regulator HAKOM has fined Hrvatski Telekom (HT) as much as HRK28 million (€3.76 million) for not providing it with retail prices under which it sells services.
According to Poslovni>, quoting a report in 24 Sata, the verdict was delivered by the High Misdemeanour Court in Zagreb and is the highest ever sentence imposed on a telco in Croatia.
It adds that as the largest telco in the country controlling critical infrastructure, HT is required to submit price lists to HAKOM to prevent it from selling its services at a lower cost (dumping) and thereby gaining new customers in a non-market way.
Its rule-breaking practice began in the summer of 2016 and lasted until the following spring.
The Zagreb court’s first verdict was delivered this April and HT’s appeal, including on the grounds that it had already paid a fine of HRK50,000 for the same offence, was dismissed by the High Minor Offences Court.
HT has nevertheless avoided the prospect of being fined double the HRK28 million, or 1% of its revenue in 2016.