When Pauline and Russell Gascoigne tried to open an account at one of Bulgaria's largest mobile service providers, sales representatives gave them two options. Either they could present a lichna karta (Bulgarian ID) confirming their address or, if they did not have one, pay a refundable security deposit of 200 leva.

The Gascoignes found both options unreasonable, for the family did not have Bulgarian IDs, and offered to show their British passports. Neither of their passports was a sufficient identification, they were told, nor was the "udostoverenie", or certificate for long-term residence issued to European Union citizens, but which has no photograph or current address.

At first, Pauline Gascoigne said, she thought that the company was discriminating against foreigners, for she knew that Bulgarian citizens were not required to pay a security deposit. The couple visited at least five different shops of the same mobile operator in Pleven, Tryavna and Lovech, and everywhere there got the same reply - lichna karta or 200 leva up front.

"I have never heard of such a practice and I am quite surprised," a company representative told The Sofia Echo in the first of several phone conversations. Later, the company confirmed that, according to its house rules, the potential client should present a document with a valid address, but previous electricity or water bills were not acceptable.

"You do understand that we as a company need to insure ourselves for the amounts due," the representative said.

The company's logic was simple: when there is no proof of valid address, the deposit of 200 leva is imposed and it would be refunded when the contract is terminated.

Pauline Gascoigne understood the rules, but what she kept wondering was how to convince the mobile operator that all she had was a business address and that, according to state regulations, she could not apply for a lichna karta until five years of interrupted residence in the country had passed. The family lives in a house which is their business address since, to be able to buy property in Bulgaria, foreign citizens are obliged to register a company if it is a property with land. According to Gascoigne, she offered to confirm that she had an address, but the sales people were not interested.

In a follow-up phone call the mobile operator said that it was unlikely that all their staff in question had disregarded the business address, but agreed that not all sales clerks spoke sufficient English to explain what was necessary. With miscommunication possibly being the only issue, the mobile operator said that it considered three categories of foreign clients: those with a status of temporary, long-term and permanent residence in the country.

These categories are spelled out by the Migration Directorate at the Ministry of Interior. Any form of address could be verified by any regional office of the Migration Directorate with an official state stamp, which would be accepted by the mobile operator and eliminate the need for a security deposit.

Ignat Arsenov, a legal consultant at the European Consumer Centre-Bulgaria (ECC) told The Sofia Echo that in this case discussed the consumer rights of British citizens had not been violated. Arsenov cited clause 19 of the mobile operator's contract regulations on address requirements. Clause 25 indicated that the company could refuse to enter a contract with a private client. Alternatively, they could require the security deposit as defined in clause 56.
According to Arsenov, the case was not an example of discrimination against foreigners, as stipulated by the Consumer Protection Act.
Complaints, however, can be filed with the ECC in Sofia at ecc.bulgaria@kzp.bg.

If there are questions about customers being potentially discriminated against, Arsenov advised that a written request for a detailed review should be filed with the Commission for Protection against Discrimination at 35 Dragan Tsankov Blvd, Sofia.