Trudon will fight a legal bid by Directory Solutions to have a Competition Appeal Court decision overturned in the Bloemfontein Court of Appeal, in a case that should be heard in the first half of this year.
The competition authorities' highest court last year overturned a Competition Tribunal decision to force Trudon - Telkom's directory services arm - to accept directory entries from Directory Solutions, without an upfront payment being made.
Trudon had sought a full payment from Directory Solutions so that clients did not then get billed separately by both companies, creating the impression that they were being charged twice for the same service.
Directory Solutions, which has set itself up as a competitor to Trudon, has been facing off with the latter in several courts for the past eight years. Directory Solutions offers to act as a liaison between clients and Trudon, submitting directory entries for the white pages to Trudon on clients' behalf.
However, consumers who sign up for Directory Solutions' services not only have to pay the Port Elizabeth-based company about R1 500 for the service, but also have to pay Trudon for the entries. Trudon publishes the white and yellow pages on behalf of Telkom, and is 64.9%-owned by the fixed-line operator.
Trudon CFO Johan Myburg says the directory service will defend the action and will fight Directory Solutions “to the bitter end”. He explains that Directory Solutions confuses companies, because people think they are being charged twice for one service.
Myburg says the confusion comes in because Directory Solutions charges for its services, and then Telkom also bills the same customer for an enhanced entry in the white pages. Plain entries are not charged for by Trudon, only bold or enhanced listings.
Changing tactics
Directory Solutions founder Roberta Seymour says the company has asked the court for leave to appeal. She says she has to continue fighting Trudon to protect her 20-year-old business.
Seymour says she wants the appeals court to overturn the competition decision, and award costs in Directory Solutions' favour. Seymour argues that Trudon's practice of letting its customers pay off the directory listing as part of their phone bill, a service Directory Solutions' clients are not offered, is damaging her business as clients would rather pay off the fee.
In the meantime, the company is telling its clients that it is a waste of money to go for a bold entry in the white pages, because focused marketing should rather be done in the yellow pages, where consumers look for a service, and not a specific company, says Seymour.
Although Directory Solutions still charges for this service, this means the client will not have to pay Trudon a fee.
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