The largest Russian mobile operators MegaFon, MTS and T2 asked the management of VimpelCom (which manages the Beeline brand) to stop the promotion that violates the "balance of interests". It is about paying to the user's account for incoming calls from other operators.
The three operators sent a collective letter stating that VimpelCom's actions could lead to their losses. In addition, they threatened to go to court and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) if the competitor does not respond to the complaint.
How does Beeline attract customers?
In mid-November, Beeline announced discounts for new subscribers. In particular, when switching from another mobile operator, the client receives a permanent 50% discount on communication services. In addition, the operator undertook to pay 50 kopecks to the mobile phone account for each minute of an incoming call.
What do they say about this practice in the FAS and VimpelCom itself?
The FAS promised to consider the appeal, if it comes to the department, for compliance with the current antimonopoly legislation. If there are grounds, measures will be taken, they assured.
VimpelCom said that they are not going to curtail the promotion. The company assured that their bonus program is similar to bank cashback. That is, a credit institution transfers to the client "part of the interbank commission that it receives for processing an incoming payment authorization request", a company representative explained.