DOHA: Vodafone Qatar yesterday said it will pursue the issue of removing its advertisements related to ‘3 Months Free’ marketing campaign with the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA).
On Monday, CRA had asked the company to remove all advertisements related to the campaign as it was found breaching the Code on Advertising, Marketing and Branding.
“Vodafone Qatar takes the issue of customer protection seriously and does not consider this promotion or associated media to be confusing or misleading.
“We intend to pursue the matter further with CRA through appropriate channels,” the company said in statement yesterday.
As per the regulator, the advertisements include inaccurate and misleading messages for customers leading them to believe that those subscribing to the offer will receive three months’ subscription for free.
“Vodafone Qatar understands that CRA has investigated the matter on the basis of a complaint from its competitor. Vodafone has had no input into the complaint review process to date despite its request for involvement,” the company said.
“Vodafone is surprised at the approach taken on the matter as it is not in accordance with the normal approach taken by CRA. To date, feedback received on the promotion has been overwhelmingly positive,” it added.
CRA had said the ‘3 Months Free’ promotion in its current form created the perception that the offer was free of any charges when in reality it offers customers a 30 percent discount on subscription fees over 10 months.
In an order issued on Monday, CRA asked Vodafone to remove all advertisements related to the campaign from shopping malls, billboards, online, and other media with immediate effect.
If Vodafone wishes to continue the campaign, it must, with immediate effect, rectify the advertisements to clearly state that all new postpaid customers will get a discount equal to three month’s subscription free over 10 months on their postpaid plan’s monthly rental (‘discount’), added the regulator.
It also asked Vodafone to ensure that customers who have paid for the ‘3 months Free postpaid’ from January 14, 2015 onwards receive three months’ free subscriptions and are not penalised for exiting the promotion prior to 10 months.
The Peninsula
