Judge cancels mass claim Consumers’ Association over price Philips TVs

The mass claim that the Consumers’ Association and Consumers’ Claim have submitted to Philips has been deleted by the court. The organizations, along with 55,000 consumers, had filed a claim alleging that customers overpaid for Philips TVs between 1996 and 2006.

The pronounciation was done last week at the court of East Brabant, notes the AD. It states that the judge rules that the claim, in which all 55,000 participants would receive 100 euros if the lawsuit was won, has no added value. In addition, the judge finds that the Consumers’ Association and Consumers’ Claim, which falls under the Aequitas Belangenbeprovocation Foundation, cannot act on behalf of all victims.

The judge states that ‘in the claims under a to k, the claim of the writ of summons does not state which of the claimants is filing/putting those claims. However, it appears from the text of the summons that only the Consumers’ Association and Aequitas institute these claims. Claims a to k are therefore not claims of private individuals’. There are, however, five individual example cases of private individuals that are being handled. They state that they paid too much for their television or monitor at the time.

Consumer claim responds to the AD that it will appeal against the ruling and the Consumers’ Association speaks of ‘a setback’. Philips itself does not want to say much about the case to the newspaper, but calls the ruling ‘good news’.

Philips was fined in 2012 by the European Commission for its participation in the ‘picture tube cartel’, the reason that the mass claim was submitted by Consumer Claim and the Consumers’ Association started proceedings on the merits against the manufacturer in 2019. He had made price agreements with other television makers, including Samsung, LG and Panasonic. The prohibited price fixing has led to higher prices for consumers. Philips was fined 509 million euros for this. That amount consists of a fine of 313 million euros and half of a fine of 392 million euros for the joint venture with LG.