The court did not grant Viva's application for injunctive relief against the IT companies Entersoft and Softone. In connection with the integration of its business software (ERP) cash register systems with POS, the company, under the direction of Haris Karonis, had sent a writ of summons to Entersoft and Softone of the Olympia Group.

WHAT VIVA CLAIMED

In the document, Viva claims that it has received a number of complaints from its customers, who complain that the two software companies provide, free of charge, the hardware and software for interfacing their products with POS terminals exclusively to the customers of two payment service providers, namely Euronet 'Epay' and Wordline. On the contrary, Viva's customers, which provide cashpoint to POS interface applications, are charged high fees, according to the company. In other words, Viva claims that the two companies act in concert with Euronet and Worldline and 'thereby extort the customers of the other providers in a blackmailing and unfair manner'. 

THE OTHER SIDE

On the other hand, Softone and Entersoft had stated in their own out-of-court complaint that through their partnerships with the payment institutions Worldline and Euronet-Epay, the latter absorbed the relevant costs of the interface software in favour of merchants, which are placed, annually, at EUR 25 to 50 per POS. This is in order to promote their services on the market for the acceptance of payment instruments. They add that, as early as 2023, a negotiation for a similar partnership with Viva had already taken place, but it did not come to fruition.

They add that Viva has entered into and announced partnerships with other software companies for preferential treatment of their customers. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that you are pleading with us to stop a practice that is not only perfectly legal but also beneficial to traders. Indeed, as far as we are aware, your company has entered into and announced partnerships with other software companies to give preferential treatment to their customers. Therefore, it is all the more surprising that you are asking us to stop a practice that is not only completely legal and in the best interests of traders, but that you also engage in yourself, according to the letters of formal notice they have sent.