Sentenced at first instance and on appeal to nearly 6.4 billion dirhams in damages for unfair competition, Maroc Telecom paid Inwi the amount due, despite a previous announcement of an appeal in cassation. The historic operator was given a period of 10 days, during which it finally made the payment to Wana Corporate, in July. This approach will have spared IAM a «forced recovery procedure that could have greatly harmed its image», reported the news site Le360. In its financial communication for the first half of the year, Maroc Telecom announced that the 6.368 billion dirham fine had been provisioned in the group's accounts at the end of June 2024. With the confirmation on appeal of the judgment rendered at first instance, the complainant had the opportunity to activate the forced execution procedures. Last July, the Casablanca Commercial Court of Appeal confirmed IAM's order to pay 6.368 billion dirhams in damages to Wana corporate (Inwi) for unfair competition and monopoly of the national market. In December 2021, the plaintiff operator took legal action claiming 6.8 billion dirhams. At the time, Wana accused the telecommunications giant of hindering its development in the fixed-line telephony and internet market, with discriminatory prices or restrictions on access to infrastructure. At the beginning of February 2020, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) had already imposed a penalty of 3.3 billion dirhams on Maroc Telecom for anti-competitive practices, due to accumulated practices that delayed other operators' access to unbundling and the fixed-line market.
