Orange overcharging for roaming in some parts of the EU

NFH

I have noticed that Orange is in breach of the Regulation on roaming charges in the European Union which was tightened on 1st July 2010. This affects calls and texts while roaming in parts of the EU that are outside the customs territory of the EU, for example Gibraltar and French overseas departments. This may apply to the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla as well, but I can't be sure of this because the same Spanish mobile networks exist in those territories as in mainland Spain.

I have just been on holiday in Spain, visiting Gibraltar occasionally, which as part of the EU is subject to the above regulation. I noticed that I have been charged more than the permitted rates for calls and texts made or received in Gibraltar. Furthermore, Orange’s web site at http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=PersonalIR&c=OUKPage&cid=1123171273258&mid=1123171272053&extarg4=1123171272053&extarg1=PAYM&extarg2=1126544428553&extarg3=&x=23&y=11 confirms that Orange’s charges are higher than the permitted rate.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/843&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en states that the maximum permitted charges in euro from 1st July 2010 are:

Calls made: EUR 0.39 per minute excluding VAT
Calls received EUR 0.15 per minute excluding VAT
SMS sent: EUR 0.11 per message excluding VAT

Orange is required to use the ECB’s published EUR/GBP rate of 1st June 2010 published at http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-hist.xml which is 0.8347. Therefore the maximum charges Orange can make for calls and texts in Gibraltar and French overseas departments are:

Calls made: GBP 0.325 per minute excluding VAT
Calls received GBP 0.125 per minute excluding VAT
SMS sent: GBP 0.09 per message excluding VAT

However, Orange is charging the following prices:

Calls made: GBP 0.38 per minute excluding VAT
Calls received GBP 0.14 per minute excluding VAT
SMS sent: GBP 0.10 per message excluding VAT

Because Gibraltar is outside the customs territory of the EU, no VAT is chargeable and Orange is correctly not applying VAT for calls and texts sent or received in Gibraltar (indicated by a # on the bill). However, the prices excluding VAT that Orange is publishing and charging are around 17% more than the permitted charges under the above regulation.

I e-mailed Orange about this but they failed to reply or amend their prices. I'm more concerned about huge scale of this across thousands of customers than the small amount that I've been overcharged by. Whom should I report this to?

Tony5101

I don't actually think that Gibraltar is an EU member - which could possibly account for the differentiation in the rates charged.

NFH

Tony5101 wrote: »

I don't actually think that Gibraltar is an EU member - which could possibly account for the differentiation in the rates charged.

Of course it is part of the EU. However, it is outside the customs territory of the EU. See above.

Jon_01

Its unlikely they'd just charge more for the sake of it. Have you checked other networks costings for the same area, if they're all the same its for a reason.

spiro

The EU website clearly states:

Please note!

• France includes Guyane, Martinique, Guadeloupe and R!union.
• Spain includes Canary Islands.
• Portugal includes Azores and Madeira.

The map does not include or mention Gib.

4743hudsonj

I think your will find Gibralter is the only British overseas territory with full Eu membership (granted by the British treaty of accession 1973- its not a member in its own right but its part of the UK like Scotland Wales etc), the rest are Special territories that are not strictly members but have certain links to the eu.

So this law does apply to Gibraltar (but wouldnt to any other UK territories)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/aug/04/qanda.foreignpolicy (few paragraphs down)

http://www.andalucia.com/gibraltar/home.htm (fourth paragraph down)

NFH

I've discovered that this affects roaming in any part of the EEA that is outside the customs territory of the EU, which includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and French overseas departments.

NFH

For the record, I reported this in July to Ofcom who took action in September. It appeared that Three were also overcharging in the same way as Orange. Ofcom have instructed both operators to comply with the EU roaming regulation.