Mobile/Data phone tariffs - exceeding data limits

[johnnyenglish]

So, a question regarding exceeding the data limit of a mobile/fixed-device tariffs.

Is it legal for a company, in this particular case VIP, to bill for additional gigabytes of data once the user's tariff allowed limit is exceeded, without any kind of notification?

I was under the impression that the law in Croatia was changed a few years ago so that this kind of thing was no longer allowed - so that in practise a provider now has to reduce the client's bandwidth to a non-billable speed before any additonal purchase of data allowance has been approved by the client himself. Only then can the provider bill for additional data allowance.

I've just received a huge bill from VIP who claim I downloaded an additional 100Gb of data last month. I received no notifications from VIP, they just freely started billing me at 19kn per additional downloaded Gb about halfway through the month, once my limit was allegedly exceeded. The first I heard of this was when the bill arrived this month.

If anyone has concrete information about this, or even better links to some official information, I would appreciate the help.

Thanks!

[johnnyenglish]

I also posted this question on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/r/croatia/comments/5cvouv/mobiledata_phone_tariffs_exceeding_data_limits/

It seems that according to the Homebox tariff, VIP are able to bill additional data usage after sending a notification in the form on a voicemail to the homebox "landline" phone

From homebox Terms and conditions

Section 25:

Neiskorišteni iznos uključenih minuta i podatkovnog prometa (MB) ne prenosi se u sljedeći mjesec. Nakon iskorištenog podatkovnog prometa, minuta za međunarodne pozive (u tarifama gdje navedeno uključeno) uključenih u mjesečnu naknadu, daljnja potrošnja naplaćuje se prema važećem cjeniku Vipneta.

It states that exceed data is billed by tarrif rate (19kn/GB)

Section 35:

Korisnik tarifa Homebox S, Officebox S, Homebox M i Officebox M biti će kontaktiran automatskim pozivom govornog automata i obaviješten o potrošenom podatkovnom prometu (MB) u Hrvatskoj uključenom u iznos mjesečne naknade tarife. Ova informacija je informativnog karaktera. Navedena obavijest ne može biti temelj za obračun usluge.

That basically says there should be automatic call made to the phone connected to homebox that informs user that data limit is exceeded.

Unfortunately for me, I don't have a phone connected to the Homebox as I only use it for data. The notifications never reach me, which I'm sure VIP are well aware of.

I'm going to take up this issue with VIP, failing that I'll contact Hrvatska regulatorna agencija za mrežne djelatnosti at www.hakom.hr