Sunrise: Consumer protection sues over inflation clause

Consumer protection sues Sunrise and wants to ban inflation clause

The network operator is accused of engaging in unfair competition with its general terms and conditions. Sunrise believes it is on the safe side legally.

Published today at 08:27

Two new contract clauses from Sunrise triggered the lawsuit by the Consumer Protection Foundation.

Photo: Ennio Leanza (Keystone)

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Sunrise is in trouble: As the Foundation for Consumer Protection announced on Friday morning, it has filed a lawsuit against the country's second-largest network operator in the Zurich District Court. The consumer protection agency accuses Sunrise of unfair competition.

The legal dispute is triggered by the small print. Last year it became known that both Sunrise and its competitors Swisscom and Salt a so-called inflation clause in their General Terms and Conditions (GTC).

At the time, the three companies cited rising inflation, triggered, among other things, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The inflation clause states that telecommunications providers can increase their prices if the national consumer price index rises. This value measures the inflation of consumer goods in Switzerland.

However, telecommunications providers are not obliged to reduce tariffs if inflation falls. According to consumer protection laws, an extraordinary right of termination is also excluded.

Consumer protection groups consider this provision to be abusive and therefore ineffective. They refer to the Federal Law Against Unfair Competition. Abuse occurs when a significant and unjustified disproportion between the contractual rights and the contractual obligations is evident in the general terms and conditions.

Customers are also annoyed by the automatic price increases: last year, 3,300 people contacted consumer protection authorities to criticize the business practices of telecom providers.

A written notice of termination will no longer be accepted

Sunrise has another clause in its terms and conditions that is a thorn in the side of consumer protection. Sunrise customers can only use their contract cancel by phone and chat, The company no longer accepts written notice of termination.

Consumer protection criticizes this requirement as “not only restrictive, but also very time-consuming and exhausting.” The organization refers to customer experiences that have been reported to it. These include long waiting times for phone calls or delays when canceling a chat.

Sara Stalder, Managing Director of the Consumer Protection Foundation, wants to have unfair clauses banned by the courts.

Photo: Gaëtan Bally (Keystone)

“People who want to cancel their contract often only manage to speak to a person after countless attempts – who then tries to sell them new products instead of simply accepting the cancellation,” says Sara Stalder, Managing Director of Consumer Protection.

Consumer protection has decided that Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt should remove the price increase clause. Sunrise was also asked to revoke the termination clause.

However, so far no provider has shown itself willing to waive the provisions. The consumer protection agency, which has the right to sue in cases of unfair competition, has therefore filed a lawsuit against Sunrise in the Zurich District Court.

As Stalder explains, legal action has been considered against all three providers. However, since only Sunrise has the price increase and termination clauses in its terms and conditions, the lawsuit has only been filed against this company. The aim of the proceedings is to have the unfair clauses banned by the courts.

Sunrise reacted calmly to the lawsuit

Sunrise believes it is legally safe. “We assume that the inflation clause in our terms and conditions is legal,” says a spokesperson. With regard to the termination clause, he notes that there are already court rulings on this. The Bülach District Court and the Zurich Higher Court examined this provision and found it not to be abusive. “The Federal Court did not undertake an examination.”

Regarding the consumer protection lawsuit, he said: “We have not yet received the complaint. As this is an ongoing legal process, we will not go into further details of the lawsuit.”

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Jon Mettler is an editor in the business section and focuses on federal enterprises, public transport, tourism, telecommunications and the watch industry.More info@jonmettler

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