In some cases, these barriers have led customers to opt out of leaving the operator, the communications regulator says in a statement. According to Anacom, MEO has already appealed the decision.

Last year, in April, the same authority fined MEO for very similar reasons, considering that the operator made it difficult to terminate contracts when the initiative came from the customer. The fine announced at the time was €2.5 million.

In this new decision, Anacom says that “these are, above all, situations in which MEO made the presentation of requests for contractual termination on the initiative of customers subject to the prior receipt of a call from the retention line, without which customers would not begin the process of terminating the contract.”

Furthermore, the regulator says that MEO “did not indicate, in the documents confirming the termination of the contract, concrete information about the charges arising from the termination of the contract, specifically about the costs that customers would incur if they did not return the rented equipment”.

There are also cases in which “incorrect information was provided regarding the obligation to pay charges for early termination of the contract, as there was no ongoing loyalty period”, says the regulator in the same note.

Anacom also says that, in other situations, the operator asked customers for elements that “were unnecessary” to the process — an illegal practice — or that it did not confirm, within the legal deadline, “several complaints and requests for termination of contracts presented by customers”.

“Such conduct placed unjustified and unacceptable obstacles in the procedures for terminating contracts at the initiative of subscribers, which made it difficult, delayed or led to the withdrawal of processes for changing service providers, thus hindering the development of competition in the market for electronic communications”.

“The behaviors adopted by the company are especially serious as they result in non-compliance with a legitimate order from Anacom that was regularly communicated to it, putting at risk the very regulation of the market in which it operates”, adds the regulator chaired by Sandra Maximiano, who promises to maintain special attention to matters related to remote contracting and the termination of contracts at the initiative of clients. “One of the most complained about topics in the sector”, she notes.

According to the communications authority, the Altice group operator has already filed a legal challenge against Anacom's decision with the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court”.