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Join on Telegram Rabat – Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s leading telecommunications operator, has settled nearly MAD 6.4 billion ($640 million) in damages with Wana Corporate (Inwi) for unfair competition practices.
Despite previously announcing plans to appeal the court’s decision to the Court of Cassation, Morocco’s highest court, the company has chosen to proceed with the payment.
Maroc Telecom, or Itissalat Al-Maghrib (IAM), completed the payment to Inwiwithin a 10-day window in July, thereby avoiding a “forced collection procedure that could have significantly harmed its reputation,” according to Le360.
This MAD 6.4 billion ( $640 million) penalty is the largest ever imposed on a telecom operator in Morocco, representing 17% of IAM’s revenue for 2023 and exceeding its MAD 6.1 billion (approximately $610 million) profit from the previous year.
Maroc Telecom’s financial report for the first half of the year indicated that this amount had been provisioned as of June 2024. Following the confirmation of this penalty on appeal, the plaintiff can now pursue enforcement measures.
In July, the Casablanca Commercial Court of Appeal upheld the decision requiring IAM to pay MAD 6.4 billion ($640 million) in damages to Inwi for unfair competition and market monopoly. This follows a December 2021 claim where the plaintiff sought MAD 6.8 billion ($680 million) in damages.
Maroc Telecom has faced financial penalties for anti-competitive practices before. In January 2020, the company was fined MAD 3.3 billion (approximately $330 million) after Inwi lodged a complaint with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT).
The regulator found that Maroc Telecom’s practices had “effectively prevented and delayed competitors’ access to unbundling and the fixed-line market.”
