Three Ireland will refund customers a sum of about €3.76 million for breaches of EU roaming regulations.
The refunds follow an investigation by communications watchdog ComReg that found customers of the telecoms company had not received the appropriate notification when they reached either the €50 or €100 default limit as required under regulations in place since July 1st.
The breaches affected approximately 14,000 customers, implying an average refund of about €269. The process of issuing the refunds is ongoing.
The regulator said it had entered an agreement in relation to the refunds with Three Ireland on December 19th after its investigation found that Three Ireland did not provide its customers with the relevant information as required by Article 15 of an EU regulation on roaming from 2012 and Article 14 of a 2022 roaming regulation.
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These articles are designed to ensure consumers have transparency and are protected by safeguard mechanisms when using data roaming.
As well as agreeing to refund affected customers, Three Ireland will ensure that the notification issued to customers when they reach both the €50 and the €100 default roaming limits per monthly billing period offers information regarding roaming add-ons, which can reduce roaming charges.
The company will also include the per unit cost associated with each additional unit consumed whilst roaming.
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“ComReg will continue to monitor Three Ireland’s compliance with its obligations and to investigate as appropriate consumer complaints whether arising in respect of the roaming regulations or otherwise,” the regulator said.
“ComReg expects all undertakings to ensure that they are compliant with the roaming regulations and are providing the appropriate notifications to their consumers. ComReg is continuing its programme of monitoring compliance by all undertakings and will take all necessary enforcement action in respect of any such activity.”
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