“Anacom has decided to apply a fine of 559,500 euros to MEO for violating the rules applicable to the conclusion and termination of contracts at the initiative of subscribers, […] and for adopting unfair commercial practices,” the regulator said in a statement.

That authority concluded that MEO's objective was to “place unjustified and impermissible obstacles in the procedures for terminating contracts at the initiative of subscribers, in order to hinder, delay or even lead to the withdrawal of processes for changing service provider, thus hindering the development of competition in the electronic communications market”.

The regulator also said that the company provided false information to consumer subscribers, mainly related to the existence of loyalty periods or the payment of charges due for the early termination of the contract, “which were likely to lead such consumers to make a transaction decision that they would not otherwise make, thus adopting unfair commercial practices”.

MEO has already filed a legal challenge against Anacom's decision with the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court, the regulator said.