Mexico: Telcel must pay damages for monopolistic practices, says Court

Manuel Suárez Fragoso, Magistrate at the Third Civil Unitary Court of Mexico, announced a setback for mobile phone giant Telcel, a subsidiary of América Móvil, by declaring valid a lawsuit filed in 2012 against the company, for which it would face a fine of $12 billion Mexican pesos (approximately US$640 million.) The fine had been canceled at the time, after the company agreed to reduce the amounts charged to competitors for interconnection services.

However, the court resumed the case on the basis of a new lawsuit presented by Total Play in 2014, determining that reparations for damages caused by monopolistic practices had not been made. The court based its claim on the Federal Law of Economic Competition, which allows companies to denounce damages against them through civil proceedings.

Suárez Fragoso resolved that the amount to be paid as damages shall be the difference between the cost unilaterally established by the defendant, derived from its substantial power in the market, and the amounts paid by the plaintiffs for the interconnection service, for the termination of calls from June 29, 2006, to April 30, 2012. The final amount shall be determined by the Fourth District Court.

Telcel can still challenge the magistrate’s ruling, although at the moment it has not issued statements in this regard.

Full Content: El Economista