The Casablanca Court of Appeal upheld a ruling against IAM in favor of Wana (formerly Inwi Corporate), which was awarded 6.4 billion dirhams in damages.
Moroccan telecom operator Maroc Telecom (IAM) will have to pay 6.4 billion dirhams (about 580 million euros) in damages to its competitor Inwi (ex-Wana Corporate). This decision was upheld on Wednesday by the Casablanca Court of Appeal following allegations of abuse of dominant position in the ADSL, IDAR, mobile, fixed and Internet markets.
This ruling confirms the verdict issued by the Rabat Commercial Court at the end of January. This is an unprecedented decision as it concerns a private law action relating to competitive practices.
Until now, sanctions have been solely administrative, issued by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT), which previously fined IAM over 3.6 billion dirhams ($361 million) and imposed a penalty of over 2 billion dirhams ($300 million) for the same facts.
Wana used this administrative sanction to seek damages from the court. The judges based their decision on a technical report that determined the damages suffered by Wana as a result of IAM’s abuse of its dominant position.
According to the judges, Wana was deprived of all profits in the relevant markets and prevented from making significant investments in the sector.
IAM’s ruling is now enforceable, meaning that the operator must pay damages to Wana. Wana now has the opportunity to enforce the judgment.
MN/ac/sf/lb/as/APA