Pelephone gets back a fine imposed by the Consumer Protection Authority totaling NIS 1 million

Partner and Pelephone appealed a fine imposed on them by the Consumer Protection Authority and will receive back the amount of the fine plus court costs, totaling NIS 968,000 - the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled in an appeal filed by the two companies.
This is a monetary sanction imposed on the companies in January 2017, claiming to mislead consumers in various publications where consumers were invited to join them and receive advanced "Generation 4" mobile services, free of charge. The Authority claimed that during the relevant period for publications that began in July 2014, the companies could not provide this service, so at the time it was talking about deception in a material matter of the transaction.
The fine imposed on the companies, which they also paid two and a half years ago, was NIS 324,000 for Partner and NIS 594,000 for cell phones. It should be noted that Cellcom was also fined, because it advertised that it was providing Generation 4.5 services, so it appealed the fine.
Against the authority's claim, Pelephone and Partner claimed that they did not mislead consumers, because they actually provided 4th generation services (as part of a temporary allocation of a frequency band until a license from the Ministry of Communications), adding that they did not charge an additional fee for the service as part of a commitment they made to the Ministry of Communications. .
The court decision stated that Golan Telecom and Rami Levy Communications also published and provided 4th generation services, but no proceedings were taken against them.
The Court criticized the conduct of the Consumer Protection Authority regarding the collection of evidence and findings and its decision to impose the fine, stating that the decision, which it defined as incorrect, should be reversed. Accordingly, it was stipulated that the fines paid to the Authority would be supplemented by linkage and interest - NIS 324,000 to Partner and NIS 594,000 to Pelephone, plus the reimbursement of legal expenses that the Authority will pay in the amount of NIS 50,000.