Phone and Internet Services: How to Dispute Improper Charges

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Improper charges on phone and internet bills are among the most common complaints on consumer protection platforms, and Brazilian law gives users the right to a refund of double the amount overpaid, under Article 42 of the Consumer Protection Code.

How to spot an improper charge on your bill

Start by checking your bill line by line and comparing each amount with the plan you actually signed up for. The most common irregularities are fees for services you never requested, duplicate subscriptions, early-termination penalties applied after the contract term has ended, and charges that continue after a formal cancellation request.

Pay particular attention to add-on packages activated without your express consent (such as antivirus software, bundled streaming, and insurance), price increases above the contracted index, and unilateral plan changes. Keep your bills, contracts, customer-service recordings, and screenshots of the carrier’s app. That gives you strong evidence if the dispute reaches court.

For contracts signed from 2022 onward, Anatel (Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency) strengthened the requirement that carriers send the contract to the consumer in electronic form. This makes it easier to verify the agreed terms later, including minimum-term conditions and any waiting period. Reading your monthly bill carefully, and periodically checking the itemized statement your carrier provides, helps you catch sudden changes. Often these come from automatic enrollment in add-on services that the account holder never requested.

First steps in an administrative complaint

Begin by contacting the carrier’s Consumer Service Center (SAC). Decree No. 11.034/2022, which replaced the earlier SAC decree, requires a response within seven calendar days to requests for cancellation, complaints, and refunds. The protocol number is the minimum record of your effort, so write it down on every call.

If the charge continues or you do not get a satisfactory answer, take your complaint to Anatel, the regulatory agency responsible for overseeing landline, mobile, internet, and pay-TV providers. You can file through the agency’s website, the Anatel Consumidor app, or by phone at 1331. The carrier then has five business days to submit a formal response.

A refund of double the amount paid in error does not depend on proof of bad faith by the supplier, according to a thesis set by the STJ (Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice) in 2021.

Filing in parallel on the Consumidor.gov.br platform, run by Senacon (Brazil’s National Consumer Secretariat), usually speeds things up. Most large carriers participate in the system and respond under public monitoring. The resolution rate on this channel exceeds 80% for the telecommunications sector.

Going to court and the right to a double refund

When the administrative route fails, you can turn to the courts. For claims of up to twenty minimum monthly wages, the Small Claims Court (Juizado Especial Cível) allows you to file without a lawyer, although legal representation is recommended to frame your requests properly and present your evidence. For claims above that amount, up to forty minimum monthly wages, a lawyer is required.

The main request is usually a declaration that the debt is not owed, a refund of the amounts overpaid under Article 42, sole paragraph, of the CDC (Consumer Protection Code) (double the amount, plus inflation adjustment and statutory interest), and, depending on the case, compensation for moral damages. Wrongful listing in credit-protection registries gives rise to presumed moral damages (in re ipsa), so you do not have to prove subjective harm, according to settled case law of the Superior Court of Justice.

The essential documents for filing include the contract, the bills showing the disputed charge, proof of payment, every protocol number generated through the administrative channels, any notices from the carrier, and screenshots from the Consumidor.gov.br platform. Attaching Anatel’s consolidated record strengthens the plausibility of your allegations and shortens the evidence phase.

The limitation period for recovering an undue payment in consumer relations follows the general rule of Article 27 of the CDC when the dispute involves injury caused by a defective service, counted from the date you learn of the damage and who caused it. In cases of a mere improper charge, with no qualified damage, the ten-year period in Article 205 of the Civil Code prevails, according to the majority view of the Superior Court of Justice. This considerably widens the window for reviewing past bills.

Best practices for preventing improper charges

Prevention starts before you sign. Read the entire contract, paying special attention to the clauses on minimum-term commitments, early-termination fees, price-adjustment conditions, and automatic enrollment in add-on services. This helps you avoid unpleasant surprises later. Anatel’s “Painel de Dados” (Data Panel) platform publishes quality and complaint indicators for each carrier, a useful tool for choosing a provider before you sign. When you use digital customer-service channels, save screenshots, e-mails, and messages. Even conversations that seem routine often become essential evidence in later disputes.

Another sensitive point is authorizing automatic debit from your checking account. It is convenient, but it concentrates in a single monthly transaction the possibility of an improper charge that you have no chance to question beforehand. If you choose this arrangement, check both your bill and your bank statement every month, and act immediately if you find a discrepancy. As time passes, it becomes harder to dispute the charge.

Portability, cancellation, and the contractual right to be forgotten

Number portability is a right guaranteed by Anatel’s regulations, and your current carrier cannot block it, even if your contract has a minimum-term clause. Any early-termination fee must be calculated in proportion to the time remaining, according to settled positions of the regulatory bodies and the higher courts. After cancellation, the carrier has a fixed deadline to stop billing and issue a final bill, without including services that have already been discontinued. If your line number keeps being billed for months after disconnection, that is an improper charge subject to the penalties of the Consumer Protection Code, including the possibility of a refund of double the amounts overpaid.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the carrier have to respond to a complaint filed with Anatel?

The regulatory deadline is five business days from the date you file the complaint on the agency’s platform. If the deadline passes with no response, or with an inadequate one, you can reopen the complaint and, at the same time, file a lawsuit without waiting for another administrative response.

What is the difference between a simple refund and a double refund?

A simple refund is just the return of the amount overcharged. A double refund, provided for in Article 42, sole paragraph, of the CDC, doubles that amount as a penalty against the supplier that charged improperly. Since the STJ’s 2021 decision (EAREsp 676.608), it applies without proof of bad faith. It is enough that the consumer actually paid the amount that was not owed.

Can I get compensation for moral damages in a case of improper charges?

Yes, especially when the charge leads to listing in credit-restriction registries such as SPC and Serasa (Brazil’s major credit bureaus), wrongful service disconnection, or repeated embarrassment of the consumer. In these situations, moral damages are presumed. In cases of mere annoyance, with no concrete emotional or financial impact, the case law usually grants only the double refund, with no separate compensation.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.