Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog opens case against MegaFon because of baseless hikes in tariffs

MOSCOW. Oct 13 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) has opened a case against PJSC MegaFon regarding baseless hikes in tariffs, the watchdog said in a statement.

The FAS clarifies that MegaFon in May of this year raised tariffs for communication services by an average of 12% for more than 16.5 million subscribers.

The anti-monopoly watchdog found that the level of tariff changes did not correspond to the rate of inflation since the beginning of the current year, thus the FAS analyzed the economic rationale of the increase.

"The service has concluded that growth in the company's expenditures does not correspond to growth in revenues from hiking tariffs for communication services. This could result in infringing the interests of consumers," according to the statement.

Consequently, the FAS has initiated the case against MegaFon for violating the relevant antitrust law.