The agreement is in response to recommendations made in the
Ofcom Review of the Regulation of Premium Rate Services, which was
launched following thousands of complaints from consumers over
unexpectedly high telephone bills, sometimes caused by fraudulent
internet charges.
The review recommended that the rules governing premium rate 090
telephone services be tightened and that the maximum fine available
to the premium rate watchdog, ICSTIS, be increased. It also obliged
the telecommunications providers to share information about
suspected premium rate abuses between themselves and with
ICSTIS.
As a result, 12 telcos have now signed up to a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU), which is intended to strengthen consumer
protection against premium rate misuse.
The signatories are: 3, BT, Carphone Warehouse, Kingston
Communications, ntl, O2, Onetel, Orange, T-Mobile, Telewest,
Vodafone and Your Communications.
Under the terms of the MOU, the telecommunications providers
will alert each other immediately to any complaints about premium
rate numbers that are suspected of being used in breach of the
ICSTIS Code.
They will also inform ICSTIS, which will investigate and, if
appropriate, invoke emergency procedures.
If a Code breach is confirmed, calls to the relevant premium
rate number will be blocked and settlement payments suspended. The
objective is that any serious code breaches can be detected and
stopped within hours of the first reports being received.
"The vast majority of service providers operate legitimately
under the ICSTIS Code," said Bryan Petch of Telewest, who convened
the group. "Unfortunately a few rotten apples have found ways of
exploiting PRS for their own ends. In publishing this MOU, the
communications providers involved are expressing their
determination to stamp out abuses and allow consumers to continue
to receive the benefits from genuine premium rate services."
E-Commerce Minister Alun Michael added:
"This sends a strong signal from some of the leading telecoms
companies that premium rate scams will not be tolerated. This
approach is essential to restore public confidence in the industry
and the Government is full square behind it. A more effective early
warning system will help the industry to spot scams and take
quicker action against rogue companies and to prevent the distress
and inconvenience they cause for consumers."
