Vienna court finds Simpli Services contract terms unlawful

The Vienna Commercial Court ruled that parts of the general terms and conditions of the provider Simpli Services violate the law. Furthermore, the company should not be charging for its customer hotline, the court found in a case brought by Austrian consumer association VKI on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Two clauses of the terms and conditions were pronounced unlawful. Simpli required customers to consent to promotional contacts before it would allow them to terminate a contract. Furthermore, Simpli Services was offering its customer hotline as a paid service, although the information on the website said that the maximum price of a hotline call would be EUR 0.10. There was only a reference to the fee-based hotline in the cancellation policy. However, the cancellation form is completed only by contract customers.