The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Bitel promised students a discount for 'all university life' — it lasted six months
March 2026: Indecopi fined Bitel (Viettel Perú) 9.28 UIT — a student campaign promised 50% off 'for all university life'; the discount lasted six months.
Viettel Perú S.A.C. · 2026-03
What happened
Bitel — Viettel Perú's mobile brand — ran a campaign aimed at university students: 'Ahorra en toda tu vida universitaria', '50% Dscto en TODA tu vida universitaria'. Fifty percent off postpaid plans, it said, for your entire university life: in Peru, a degree of five years or more.
The discount lasted six months. Indecopi's unfair-competition commission found the claim misleading, and counted five further breaches of the legality principle: the ads did not clearly disclose the promotion's validity period or its access conditions. In Resolution 033-2026/CCD-INDECOPI of 31 March 2026 — Bitel admitted the charges, an allanamiento — the fine totalled 9.28 UIT: 5.59 for deception, 3.69 for the disclosure breaches, more than S/51,000 as reported.
The order demanded immediate and definitive cessation of the 'toda tu vida universitaria' claims, and Bitel was entered in the Registry of Infringers. For Peru's telecom offers to students the ruling fixed a simple standard: a discount's duration is an objective fact, and 'forever' is not a synonym for 'six months'.
Why it happened
- 'Toda tu vida universitaria' set the promise's duration — a full degree. Six months of discount could not carry that sentence.
- The ads did not clearly disclose the promotion's validity or conditions; the silence about the expiry was sanctioned as a separate infraction.
- Bitel chose allanamiento — admitting the charges — rather than litigating a claim its own terms contradicted.
The lesson
Duration claims are facts: 'for your whole university life' means the length of a degree, not a semester. When an offer expires, the expiry belongs in the ad — omitting it is a separate fine.
Aftermath
The sanction stood with Bitel's admission; the campaign had to stop immediately and the brand entered Indecopi's Registry of Infringers. In Peru's student telecom offers, 'para toda tu vida' now reads as a cautionary phrase.
Sources
- Indecopi — Resolución 033-2026/CCD-INDECOPI (Bitel / Viettel Perú)
- La República — Indecopi multa a Bitel con más de S/51.000 por ofrecer descuento para toda la vida universitaria que solo duró 6 meses
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