Claimants: Tens of thousands of subscribers were illegally included in Pupic's website, and were charged for the SMS messages sent to them.
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) and Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) subscribers will receive a NIS 4.5 million refund for SMS messages received from the Pupic social network, under a settlement in the class-action lawsuit filed against the cellular providers. The parties sent the settlement to the Tel Aviv District Court for approval.
The claimants alleged that tens of thousands of Cellcom and Partner subscribers were illegally included in Pupic's website, and that they were charged for the SMS messages sent to them, regardless of whether they consented to the messages.
The court approved the claimants' request to recognize the lawsuit as a class-action lawsuit. The parties subsequently held talks on a settlement.
Cellcom subscribers will receive NIS 2.35 million and Partner subscribers will receive NIS 2.23 million. The total refund will be no less than NIS 4.12 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 11, 2009
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