Saudi Telecom must pay SR10m, 9 years after fine issued

Abu Dhabi: A Saudi court has fined Saudi Telecom (STC), the largest telecom operator in the Kingdom, 10 million riyals, almost nine years after the telecoms regulator’s decision, local media reported.

The court turned down an appeal by the Saudi Telecom and the ruling against it became final.

Nine years earlier, the Saudi Arabia’s general authority for competition (GAC) issued the fine.

The authority said the fine was a result of the company “abusing its dominant position by imposing special conditions on the sale or purchase transactions, when dealing with another facility, in a manner that places it in a weak competitive position in relation to competing firms.”

Saudi Arabia’s telecoms regulator imposed more than 38 million Saudi riyals in fines on the three main telecoms companies for violating regulations, a statement from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said.

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) was fined 17 million riyals and Zain Saudi Arabia was fined more than 11 million riyals.