Italy’s competition regulator fined operators a combined €228 million for breaking competition rules by colluding to raise prices, after ruling changes made after they were forced to amend their billing terms were unfair to customers.

In a statement, competition regulator AGCM said Fastweb, Telecom Italia, Vodafone Italy and Wind Tre agreed to increase prices after being forced to switch from billing every 28 days to each month. Apparently operators colluded to ensure their income remained the same despite the number of bills sent to subscribers in a year declining.

ACGM began investigating in March 2018, timing which the regulator claimed had “effectively prevented the implementation of the agreement” because operators abandoned the planned price increases as a result of the probe.

Wind Tre, Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italia ran into trouble with AGCM in 2018 when the three were fined €3.2 million for violating the country’s consumer code with “aggressive conduct” over billing practices.