Following ACM action, KPN compensates customers for missed discounts

Dutch telecom operator KPN has compensated almost 13,000 customers for discounts that they erroneously did not receive. KPN has decided to do so after sitting down with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Through its consumer information portal ACM ConsuWijzer, ACM received reports that problems were occurring regarding renewal offers for a group of KPN customers. They received offers for renewal discounts, but their new monthly payments were subsequently collected without this discount having been applied. After ACM had confronted KPN with this, KPN decided to compensate this group of customers. The compensation varies between 60 euros for one-year renewals to 120 euros for two-year renewals.

No discount applied

Between May 2024 and May 2025, KPN made renewal offers to a group of 13,000 customers with plans for fixed telephony and broadband, during their subscription periods. When extending their contracts, these customers were offered a monthly discount on their new monthly payments. However, it subsequently turned out that this discount had not been applied to their new monthly payments. According to KPN, this was caused by an error in their internal system. In order to correct this, KPN actively approached by email and/or letter the affected customers that had not already approached KPN themselves. These affected customers have now received compensation for the missed discount of 60 euros on one-year renewals and 120 euros on two-year renewals.

ACM’s approach

ACM has various instruments at its disposal. In this case, ACM chooses to confront the business with the problem (not applying the discount) in order to solve it. This is a quick method to ensure that businesses adjust their methods, and compensate harmed customers.