A fine to be paid of a total of 105 thousand euros and 90 days to comply with the Antitrust disputes and respect the rights of travellers. It is the bill presented by the Antitrust to Meridiana for having implemented two distinct unfair commercial practices.
The first dispute, which earned the company a fine of 70 thousand euros, concerns the information given to passengers and the procedures adopted for the reimbursement of taxes and airport charges in the event of non-use of the ticket. According to the Antitrust, information is scarce with the consequence that many consumers are unaware of the existence of the law.
Furthermore, the procedures for obtaining the refund of what is owed are decidedly onerous: having to pay a high cost (20 euros) to start the procedure, which reduces and sometimes cancels the amount of the refund itself, passengers prefer to throw in the towel. It is no coincidence that the requests received by the company are very few. In short, according to the Authority, it is an obstacle placed by the company to the exercise of a passenger's right.
The second practice, sanctioned with a fine of 35 euros, instead concerns assistance given to passengers through a paid call center at high rates. For the Antitrust, Meridiana, by envisaging or proposing the paid call center channel as the only method of access to assistance, has in fact made the exercise of legitimate rights by consumers subject to an onerous procedure, imposing a particularly high surcharge on them, not previously indicated, nor foreseeable in its final amount: also in this case a significant obstacle to the exercise of passengers' rights.
Now the company will have to submit a compliance report by the first months of 2015 specifying the measures it intends to adopt to comply with the Antitrust decision.
