The High Court has been urged to make orders requiring Sky Ireland Ltd to end its practice of automatically renewing customers’ contracts without first informing them their contracts are about to end and of alternative tariffs.
The Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg) has brought proceedings claiming Sky is in breach of 2022 EU regulations requiring communications service providers to inform consumers in a prominent and timely manner of the end of the contractual commitment and means by which they can terminate the contract.
It says Sky is also contravening the regulations by failing to provide consumers with “best tariff advice” before the contract is automatically prolonged. Sky is the only one of the five big providers refusing to do so, Comreg says.
Comreg’s case was opened before Ms Justice Eileen Roberts on Tuesday by Eoin McCullough SC. Sky opposes the application.
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It disputes Comreg’s interpretation of the relevant legal provisions and says they only apply to contracts with a fixed duration. Its customers’ contracts are subscription contracts of indeterminate duration, it says.
The regulations, Sky argues, are designed to address the potential harm of consumers getting automatically prolonged in the contract for a second term without their knowledge. This harm does not arise in relation to Sky customers as its contracts do not follow this type of model in Ireland, it argues.
The case continues and is scheduled to last three days.
