Vonage agrees to pay $100 million to settle U.S. FTC lawsuit - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Communications steadfast Vonage agreed to wage $100 cardinal to resoluteness a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suit that alleged it had failed to supply a elemental method for customers to cancel their telephone services, tribunal documents filed Thursday show.

Vonage, which was acquired by Ericsson (ERICb.ST) earlier this twelvemonth successful a $6.2 cardinal deal, had created obstacles to deter and forestall customers from stopping recurring charges, the FTC said successful a suit and projected colony successful U.S. District Court successful New Jersey.

Neither Vonage nor Ericsson instantly responded to a petition for comment.

"Since astatine slightest 2015, Vonage has failed to supply a elemental method for customers to cancel their telephone services, employing a panoply of hurdles, sometimes referred to as

'dark patterns,' which compound to deter and forestall customers from stopping recurring charges," the FTC said successful its complaint. "Even erstwhile customers person managed to navigate Vonage’s process and person reached a unrecorded cause and canceled their accounts, successful galore instances, Vonage has continued to complaint them without consent."

In summation to the fiscal settlement, the institution agreed to connection wide disclosures astir immoderate recurring charges and to connection a elemental method to halt immoderate recurring complaint oregon debar accrued charges, according to a tribunal document.

It besides requires that if a user signed up for a work connected the telephone oregon via a mobile telephone exertion to usage that aforesaid method to cancel the service, the papers said.

Reporting by David Shepardson and Diane Bartz

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.