The rise in the price of mobile services at the rate of annual inflation, which was announced in mid-January, came as a cold shower for a large number of affected users. The reason is that this is another element of the creeping upward inflation in the country and last but not least, people are outraged by the lack of a better alternative to choose when they dislike the conditions in the contracts of the three mobile operators.

The announced price rise of mobile services meets the provisions of the agreements signed with the users, as well as the requirements of the European practices. This is stated by the Alliance of the Technology Industry (ATI) in a letter to the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP). Ten days ago, the commission heard the parties concerned, but no analysis has yet been presented on the matter. Now, through the help of the alliance, mobile operators are defending their right to change service prices, saying in a letter that the price hikes are balanced and are “not an arbitrary and uncontrolled rise, like the ones seen in many goods and services forming the consumer basket".

The letter recalls that the general conditions of the operators have not been amended for the past 10 years and have been checked several times by the Commission for Consumer Protection. So far, the commission has not found a contradiction with the law and has not banned them, the Association points out. However, whether this really protected the rights of users, or rather it was in defense of the business of the mobile operators remains unclear. Everyone could try figure this out by looking at the inflated prices of the services and the clauses that are offered in the agreements with each of the mobile operators. "Very recently, the acquisition of one of the few Internet providers left on the market by one of the major mobile operators was also allowed. This indicates that in our economy we can see the so-called oligopoly" - this is what Gabriela Rumenova, an expert from a specialized site for legal protection for consumers says:

"A small number of operators of the same service in the market observe each other's behavior and accordingly copy each other's steps. And this massive increase in the prices of mobile services is now possible because all three mobile operators have included in their clauses the possibility of indexing prices according to inflation indicators. This is precisely what allows mobile operators to raise prices, while at the same time leaving no option for the consumer to terminate the contract with them on this basis, as the consumer would owes penalties for lost," Gabriela Rumenova says.

A worrying fact in this case is that one of the mobile operators refers to the official inflation index, another to the index of consumer prices and services announced by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) and in the end the mobile operators increase inflation by adding percentages to their prices, analysts say. "Regardless of the fact that there is such a price stipulation in the contracts, when it is to the detriment of consumers and violates the balance between the rights and obligations of both parties there is an opportunity for consumer protection authorities to take the actions provided for in the law," Gabriela Rumenova says.

Publication in English: Al. Markov

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