RegTel, the Irish regulator of Premium Rate Services stated in a message to all Premium Rate Service providers that there had been an “unprecedented increase” in the number of complaints it received from consumers, with the majority focused on subscription-type services.

Overall, 13,321 complaints were made to RegTel last year, compared to just 5,534 in 2005. Many of the complaints received were from angry individuals who found themselves unable to unsubscribe from phone services they had unwittingly opted in to.

The regulator Pat Breen said complaints were confined to a “small number of service providers who have failed to honour their obligations under the code, and who show little regard for protecting vulnerable consumers.”

However, RegTel’s intention to “name and shame” such wrongdoers seems to have hit an obstacle. The regulator had previously announced that it planned to publish a summary of all adjudications on it website from the end of March, but a court challenge means it is unable to proceed with this plan.

RegTel now announced that the following will be carried out by the Regulator’s office;

1. If the “stop” command is not used by SP’s then the services attached to the short code will be suspended for a specified period of time.
2. Promotional material will have to be submitted in advance for a defined period of time.

Also RegTel plans to fully implement the section 11.4.3 from the Code of Practice which states: “‘This is a subscription service’ must be displayed in a stationary position on the top of the TV screen, must be used in print media, and also this information must be given on radio ads.”

Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by lbraum
Filed under: all, Ireland